Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Dec;34(12):1891-1900.
doi: 10.1002/mds.27865. Epub 2019 Oct 4.

Exercise increases caudate dopamine release and ventral striatal activation in Parkinson's disease

Matthew A Sacheli  1 , Jason L Neva  2 , Bimal Lakhani  2 , Danielle K Murray  1   3 , Nasim Vafai  4 , Elham Shahinfard  4 , Carolyn English  4 , Siobhan McCormick  4 , Katie Dinelle  4 , Nicole Neilson  1 , Jessamyn McKenzie  1 , Michael Schulzer  1 , Don C McKenzie  5 , Silke Appel-Cresswell  1   3 , Martin J McKeown  1   3 , Lara A Boyd  2 , Vesna Sossi  4 , A Jon Stoessl  1   3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Exercise increases caudate dopamine release and ventral striatal activation in Parkinson's disease

Matthew A Sacheli et al. Mov Disord. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on evoked dopamine release and activity of the ventral striatum using positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: Thirty-five participants were randomly allocated to a 36-session aerobic exercise or control intervention. Each participant underwent an functional magnetic resonance imaging scan while playing a reward task before and after the intervention to determine the effect of exercise on the activity of the ventral striatum in anticipation of reward. A subset of participants (n = 25) completed [11 C] raclopride positron emission tomography scans to determine the effect of aerobic exercise on repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation-evoked release of endogenous dopamine in the dorsal striatum. All participants completed motor (MDS-UPDRS part III, finger tapping, Timed-up-and-go) and nonmotor assessments (Starkstein Apathy Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, reaction time, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Trail Making Test [A and B], and Montreal Cognitive Assessment) before and after the interventions.

Results: The aerobic group exhibited increased activity in the ventral striatum during functional magnetic resonance imaging in anticipation of 75% probability of reward (P = 0.01). The aerobic group also demonstrated increased repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation-evoked dopamine release in the caudate nucleus (P = 0.04) and increased baseline nondisplaceable binding potential in the posterior putamen of the less affected repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation-stimulated hemisphere measured by position emission tomography (P = 0.03).

Conclusions: Aerobic exercise alters the responsivity of the ventral striatum, likely related to changes to the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway, and increases evoked dopamine release in the caudate nucleus. This suggests that the therapeutic benefits of exercise are in part related to corticostriatal plasticity and enhanced dopamine release. © 2019 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; dopamine release; exercise; function magnetic resonance imaging; positron emission tomography.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Baatile J, Langbein WE, Weaver F, Maloney C, Jost MB. Effect of exercise on perceived quality of life of individuals with Parkinson's disease. J Rehabil Res Dev 2000;37(5):529-534.
    1. de Paula FR, Teixeira-Salmela LF, Faria CDCD, de Brito PR, Cardoso F. Impact of an exercise program on physical, emotional, and social aspects of quality of life of individuals with Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord 2006;21(8):1073-1077.
    1. Bollinger LM, Cowan CE, LaFontaine TP. Parkinson's Disease: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Exercise Intervention. Strength Cond J 2012;34(2):50-54.
    1. Murray DK, Sacheli MA, Eng JJ, Stoessl AJ. The effects of exercise on cognition in Parkinson's disease: a systematic review. Transl Neurodegener 2014;3(1):5.
    1. Tanaka K, Quadros AC Jr, Santos RF, Stella F, Gobbi LT, Gobbi S. Benefits of physical exercise on executive functions in older people with Parkinson's disease. Brain Cogn 2009;69(2):435-441.

Publication types

MeSH terms