Exercise & Dopamine
Scientists were interested in the role of dopamine in improving cognition during exercise. They compared voluntary cycling with forced muscle movement. Dopamine is believed to be important to information processing and the degree of activity within networks of brain cells.
While in a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, one group of 16 male participants did cycling, and another group of 18 male participants had their leg muscles electrically stimulated, causing muscle contraction. The scanner revealed that the cycling group experienced a release of dopamine in their brains, as well as an improvement in their reaction times on a Go/No Go task. The muscle stimulation group experienced neither a dopamine release nor a change in reaction times.
The results suggest that dopamine is an important neuromodulator for quicker reaction time, and that voluntary exercise, which involves increased heart rate and activation in additional brain areas, is required to stimulate dopamine release and improve reaction time.
Dopamine decreases with age, so exercise can help minimize the age-related decline. Dopamine also plays a role in depression, ADHD, addiction, and Parkinson’s disease. Exercise could stimulate dopamine release toward optimal levels. Thus, researchers believe this discovery could lead to new therapeutic pathways and exercise prescriptions for these cognitive conditions.
A prior study revealed that a drug that increases dopamine, prescribed to treat Parkinson’s disease (Levodopa), reduced inflammation in the brain and improved the following symptoms of depression: lack of motivation and anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure.
Takeaway: Exercise, anything that raises your heart rate, improves your brain’s reaction time. Dopamine contributes to improved reaction time on cognitive tasks. By increasing dopamine levels, exercise may also improve depression symptoms and minimize age-related dopamine declines.
Well-being is a journey, not a quick fix.
Sources
Soichi Ando, et al., The Neuromodulatory Role of Dopamine in Improved Reaction Time by Acute Cardiovascular Exercise, The Journal of Physiology, Jan. 2, 2024, The neuromodulatory role of dopamine in improved reaction time by acute cardiovascular exercise - Ando - The Journal of Physiology - Wiley Online Library.
Robyn Montegue, Exercise’s Dopamine-Driven Cognitive Boost, Neuroscience News, Jan. 20, 2024, Exercise's Dopamine-Driven Cognitive Boost - Neuroscience News.
Mandakh Bekhbat, et al., Functional Connectivity in Reward Circuitry and Symptoms of Anhedonia as Therapeutic in Depression with High Inflammation: Evidence from a Dopamine Challenge Study, 27 Molecular Psychiatry 4113-4121 (2022), Functional connectivity in reward circuitry and symptoms of anhedonia as therapeutic targets in depression with high inflammation: evidence from a dopamine challenge study | Molecular Psychiatry (nature.com).
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