TY - JOUR TI - Exercise as a neurobehavioral therapy for cognitive control deficits in major depressive disorder DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3MW2KGQ PY - 2016 AB - Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with a number of symptoms, including cognitive dysfunction and maladaptive ruminative thought patterns. Although consistent evidence indicates that aerobic exercise is beneficial for reducing depressive symptoms in MDD, little is known about the influence of exercise on neurocognitive deficits found in depression. This is important for establishing exercise as a neurobehavioral therapy for depression, that is, an intervention that addresses biological mechanisms believed to underlie the disorder. Here, we investigated whether the N2 and P3 components of the human event-related potential (ERP) could be used to index cognitive impairments in MDD, and whether these neurophysiological measures were correlated with ruminative thought patterns. Although there were no differences in P3 amplitude by depression status, N2 amplitudes were significantly reduced in individuals with MDD relative to healthy controls, indicating that reductions were associated with higher rumination levels. These findings demonstrate that individuals with MDD may experience impaired cognitive control while attending to varying environmental stimuli. Because of our findings related to impaired cognitive control processes, we examined the neurophysiological and behavioral correlates of cognitive control during single bouts of low- and moderate-intensity exercise in healthy young adults to determine if neurocognitive function is modifiable by aerobic exercise. Importantly, acute exercise was shown to modify these ERP components, such that increased N2 and P3 amplitudes were found during exercise at low and moderate intensities relative to rest. Although this study was performed in nondepressed participants, it suggests an upregulation of cognitive control during aerobic exercise that may be maintained through a program of chronic exercise. Finally, we examined the effects of a moderate-intensity aerobic exercise intervention performed three days/week for 8 weeks. The aerobic exercise condition exhibited enhanced cognitive control (i.e., N2 amplitude) and reduced depressive symptoms among individuals with MDD; however, these exercise-induced changes in cognitive control were not found to significantly mediate pre-to-post changes in symptom outcomes. These findings support the use of exercise as a neurobehavioral therapy for MDD and suggest the possibility of incorporating exercise as a stand alone or augmentation strategy for conventional treatments. KW - Nutritional Sciences KW - Depressive disorder--Treatment KW - Depression, Mental--Treatment KW - Exercise LA - eng ER -