Key result
Running therapy is linked to brain dynamic reorganization and symptom improvement in affective disorders.
Why the study?
Exercise therapy reduces depressive and anxiety symptoms, but its neural mechanisms remain unclear.
Does running therapy reorganize dynamic brain networks and improve symptoms in individuals with affective disorders?
Cohort (n=116)
Does running therapy reorganize dynamic brain networks and improve symptoms in individuals with affective disorders?
Running therapy reorganizes large-scale brain dynamics in affective disorders, with symptom improvement linked to changes in default mode network dynamics.
Should not yet change practice in affective disorders; hypothesis-generating for running therapy effects on brain dynamics.
BACKGROUND: Exercise therapy reduces depressive and anxiety symptoms, but its neural mechanisms remain unclear. We examined whether running therapy reorganizes dynamic brain functional connectivity in affective disorders. METHODS: Resting-state fMRI was analyzed at baseline in 66 healthy controls and 50 individuals with affective disorders. Co-activation pattern (CAP) analysis identified recurring whole-brain states and their temporal dynamics. After baseline comparisons, patients received 16 weeks of running therapy or antidepressant treatment. We then examined treatment-related CAP changes and their associations with symptom improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Running therapy was associated with treatment-specific reorganization of large-scale brain dynamics in affective disorders. Symptom improvement was linked to changes in default mode CAP dynamics and transitions between default mode and visual-somatosensory states.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Lopez et al. (2026) conducted a cohort in Affective disorders (n=116). Running therapy vs. Antidepressant treatment was evaluated on Reorganization of dynamic brain functional connectivity (CAP dynamics) (p=≤ 0.03). Running therapy was associated with treatment-specific reorganization of large-scale brain dynamics linked to symptom improvement in affective disorders (P≤0.03).
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: