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Changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies

Physical activity (PA) in the form of aerobic exercise (AE) preserves and improves neurocognitive function across the lifespan. However, a mechanistic understanding of the pathways by which aerobic exercise impacts brain health is still lacking, particularly with respect to stress-related pathways....

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Autores principales: Molina-Hidalgo, Cristina, Stillman, Chelsea M., Collins, Audrey M., Velazquez-Diaz, Daniel, Ripperger, Hayley S., Drake, Jermon A., Gianaros, Peter J., Marsland, Anna L., Erickson, Kirk I.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10598664/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37885801
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1273981
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author Molina-Hidalgo, Cristina
Stillman, Chelsea M.
Collins, Audrey M.
Velazquez-Diaz, Daniel
Ripperger, Hayley S.
Drake, Jermon A.
Gianaros, Peter J.
Marsland, Anna L.
Erickson, Kirk I.
author_facet Molina-Hidalgo, Cristina
Stillman, Chelsea M.
Collins, Audrey M.
Velazquez-Diaz, Daniel
Ripperger, Hayley S.
Drake, Jermon A.
Gianaros, Peter J.
Marsland, Anna L.
Erickson, Kirk I.
author_sort Molina-Hidalgo, Cristina
collection PubMed
description Physical activity (PA) in the form of aerobic exercise (AE) preserves and improves neurocognitive function across the lifespan. However, a mechanistic understanding of the pathways by which aerobic exercise impacts brain health is still lacking, particularly with respect to stress-related pathways. One mechanistic hypothesis is that AE improves neurocognitive health in part by modifying circulating levels of stress-related hormones and signaling factors associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system (ANS), as commonly measured by the biomarkers cortisol (CORT) and salivary α-amylase (sAA). Thus, this hypothesis predicts that changes in stress biomarkers, such as CORT and sAA, are possible explanatory pathways mediating the positive effects of AE on neurocognitive health. In the present review article, we provide a summary of available studies examining the possibility that exercise-induced changes to stress biomarkers could partly account for exercise-related improvements in neurocognitive health. Our review indicates that despite the intuitive appeal of this hypothesis, there is insufficient evidence available to conclude that chronic and habitual AE affects neurocognitive health by altering stress biomarker pathways. The cross-sectional nature of the majority of reviewed studies highlights the need for well-controlled studies to adequately test this hypothesis.
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spelling pubmed-105986642023-10-26 Changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies Molina-Hidalgo, Cristina Stillman, Chelsea M. Collins, Audrey M. Velazquez-Diaz, Daniel Ripperger, Hayley S. Drake, Jermon A. Gianaros, Peter J. Marsland, Anna L. Erickson, Kirk I. Front Physiol Physiology Physical activity (PA) in the form of aerobic exercise (AE) preserves and improves neurocognitive function across the lifespan. However, a mechanistic understanding of the pathways by which aerobic exercise impacts brain health is still lacking, particularly with respect to stress-related pathways. One mechanistic hypothesis is that AE improves neurocognitive health in part by modifying circulating levels of stress-related hormones and signaling factors associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system (ANS), as commonly measured by the biomarkers cortisol (CORT) and salivary α-amylase (sAA). Thus, this hypothesis predicts that changes in stress biomarkers, such as CORT and sAA, are possible explanatory pathways mediating the positive effects of AE on neurocognitive health. In the present review article, we provide a summary of available studies examining the possibility that exercise-induced changes to stress biomarkers could partly account for exercise-related improvements in neurocognitive health. Our review indicates that despite the intuitive appeal of this hypothesis, there is insufficient evidence available to conclude that chronic and habitual AE affects neurocognitive health by altering stress biomarker pathways. The cross-sectional nature of the majority of reviewed studies highlights the need for well-controlled studies to adequately test this hypothesis. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-10-11 /pmc/articles/PMC10598664/ /pubmed/37885801 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1273981 Text en Copyright © 2023 Molina-Hidalgo, Stillman, Collins, Velazquez-Diaz, Ripperger, Drake, Gianaros, Marsland and Erickson. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Physiology
Molina-Hidalgo, Cristina
Stillman, Chelsea M.
Collins, Audrey M.
Velazquez-Diaz, Daniel
Ripperger, Hayley S.
Drake, Jermon A.
Gianaros, Peter J.
Marsland, Anna L.
Erickson, Kirk I.
Changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies
title Changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies
title_full Changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies
title_fullStr Changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies
title_full_unstemmed Changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies
title_short Changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies
title_sort changes in stress pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise training on brain health: a scoping review of existing studies
topic Physiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10598664/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37885801
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1273981
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