Acute Aerobic Exercise and Neuroplasticity in Depression

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Depression, Depressive Disorder

In brief

Depression is associated with a disruption in the mechanisms that regulate neuroplasticity. Effective treatment and rehabilitation of depression, and other neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, relies on neuroplasticity. Thus, identifying therapies that enhance neuroplasticity (neuroplastic adaptation) are vital in the comprehensive treatment of depression. Aerobic exercise training has been demonstrated to have antidepressant properties and single bouts of aerobic exercise may provide short-term improvements in affective states in depression. Furthermore, acute aerobic exercise may enhance the response to known neuroplasticity-inducing paradigms. However, it is unclear if aerobic exercise can influence neuroplasticity in depression and the neurobiological mechanisms underlying acute neuroplastic changes are not well understood in depressed and healthy cohorts. Thus, the purpose of this project is to examine the acute effects of aerobic exercise on neuroplastic, neurobiological, and mood indices of depression.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02839837

Run by

Medical University of South Carolina

People needed

38

Starts

2016-05-01

Expected to finish

2018-12-01

Last updated by the study team

2019-01-30

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 50. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• For all:
• age 18-50 year old.
• ability to provide informed consent.
• Further inclusion criteria for participants with depression:
• meets criteria for unipolar depression assessed using the Mini-international Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)
• a Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of 20 or greater
• current depressive episode began no longer than 3 years earlier
• psychoactive drug free or have maintained a stable dose of up to one antidepressant medication for four weeks prior to study participation
• Further inclusion criteria for control participants:
• does not meet criteria for unipolar depression assessed using the MINI
• a MADRS score of 6 or less
• no history or previous diagnosis of depression
• Exclusion Criteria (for all participants):
• primary diagnosis of another Axis 1 disorder
• secondary diagnosis of a psychotic disorder, cognitive disorder, substance-related disorder, or obsessive compulsive disorder
• illicit drug use or alcohol abuse
• current smoker
• history of seizures
• other diagnosed neurological or musculoskeletal disorder/injury, uncontrolled cardiovascular or metabolic disease
• resting blood pressure > 200mmHg systolic or 100mmHg diastolic
• electronic or metal implants
• current participation in a structured exercise program
• pregnancy

Where it is running

• Stroke Recovery Research Center — Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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