(Ebook) The Exercise Effect on Mental Health: Neurobiological Mechanisms by Henning Budde, Mirko Wegner ISBN 9780815348863, 9781498739528, 081534886X, 1498739520

(Ebook) The Exercise Effect on Mental Health: Neurobiological Mechanisms by Henning Budde, Mirko Wegner ISBN 9780815348863, 9781498739528, 081534886X, 1498739520

The Exercise Effect on Mental Health contains the most recent and thorough overview of the links between exercise and mental health, and the underlying mechanisms of the brain. The text will enhance interested clinicians’ and researchers’ understanding of the neurobiological effect of exercise on mental health. Editors Budde and Wegner have compiled a comprehensive review of the ways in which physical activity impacts the neurobiological mechanisms of the most common psychological and psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. This text presents a rigorously evidence-based case for exercise as an inexpensive, time-saving, and highly effective treatment for those suffering from mental illness and distress.----------------The body– mind connection has recaptured scientific interest in recent yearswith more than a dozen academic books, several special issues in journals (e.g.Neural Plasticity, CNS and Neurological Disorders – Drug Targets) and evenone international impact- factored journal (Mental Health and Physical Activity,first issue 2008) entirely dedicated to this topic. The number of manuscriptspublished on the topic in peer- reviewed journals has increased from 10 in1990, to about 60 in 2000, to over 700 in 2017, based on a raw search onPubMed using the words “exercise” and “mental health”. This reflects thegrowth in interest available through just this one search engine. It is agreedthat mental health is not just the absence of mental disorders. Mental healthmeans mental functioning and has a physiological base. It is interconnectedwith physical and social functioning as well as with health outcomes (WorldHealth Organization 2001). This definition of mental health also includesconcepts like subjective well- being, self- efficacy, autonomy, competence,intergenerational dependence, and being able to utilize one’s intellectual (e.g.cognitive functioning) and emotional potential (e.g. absence of depressionand anxiety), and ensures social functioning (World Health Organization,2001, 2004) and life satisfaction (Gauvin & Spence 1996). This book focuseson several aspects included in mental health. Physical activity refers to bodymovement that leads to energy expenditure and is initiated by skeletal muscles(Caspersen, Powell, & Christenson 1985; Budde et al. 2016). Exercise hasbeen previously defined as a disturbance of homeostasis through muscleactivity resulting in movement and increased energy expenditure (Scheuer& Tipton 1977). The critical difference between both terms refers to theplanned and structured nature of exercise (Caspersen et al. 1985).The pandemic nature of mental health problems like anxiety and depression(see Chapter 1 by Kohn in this book) in combination with the costsand time associated with cognitive psychotherapy, as well as the potentialside effects of various drugs used in the treatment of such diseases, stipulatethe search for a potent cure. Provided with positive attributes, exercise orPA could be the treatment of choice if it could be found to be effective andapplicable in treating as well as preventing mental diseases. Previous researchhas strongly suggested that exercise or PA benefit different areas of mentalhealth (Taylor, Sallis, & Needle 1985; Hughes 1984) including depression,anxiety, cognitive functioning, and psychological well- being in adults as wellas in the elderly (Gauvin & Spence 1996; Hillman, Erickson, & Kramer 2008;Wegner, Helmich, Machado Arias- Carrión, and Budde 2014) and in childrenand adolescents (Lagerberg, 2005; Donaldson and Ronan 2006; Biddle andAsare 2011; Sibley and Etnier 2003). However, the effectiveness of exerciseor PA as a mental health intervention is not universally acknowledgednor perfectly understood. Still little is known about the exercise– mentalhealth relationship regarding physiological mechanisms. Future studies arestrongly needed that more closely investigate the underlying neurobiologicalmechanisms. However, for various reasons, researchers and practitioners inmedicine, psychology, and public health remain either uninformed or unconvincedabout the potential of this intervention to promote mental health(Ekkekakis 2013). Some of these reasons may be due to concerns about themethodological accuracy of the studies. Distinguishing between good andpoor methodology paired with suggestions for future studies is a topic thatruns like a continuous thread through the book. Additionally, mostly dueto inexperience, practitioners find it hard to “subscribe” exercise (e.g. in anin- patient setting for majorly depressive individuals) as an effective treatment.To this end, the present book is an attempt to give a state- of- the- art overviewof the topic and the editors hope that it will encourage more collaborationbetween researchers and practitioners to further utilize exercise and PA aseffective means to support mental health.Along with Biddle, Fox, Boutcher, and Faulkner (2000) there are fivereasons why physical activity may be a very effective strategy to promotemental health. One is that physical activity is potentially cost effective – it isrelatively inexpensive to deliver as an intervention and to participate in. Secondand third, in contrast to pharmacological interventions, physical activity isassociated with minimal adverse side- effects but it has the potential to simultaneouslyimprove physical health and well- being. Fourth, physical activity canbe indefinitely sustained by the individual unlike pharmacological and psychotherapeutictreatments, which often have a specified end- point. Finally, manyother non- drug treatments (such as cognitive behavioral therapy) are expensiveand therefore often in short supply.The idea behind this book is to foster the understanding of the linkbetween mental health and exercise or physical activity in a potentially broadfield from neuroscience across many different dimensions of mental health andpsychological well- being. In this book we have drawn together researchersfrom different disciplines, e.g. brain science, cognitive psychology, neuroscience,exercise science as well as psychophysiology to present a state- of- the- artsummary of what is known about exercise/ PA and mental health. However,the explaining mechanisms underlying the effects of regular physical activityand exercise on the different facets of mental health are not completely understoodup to now.In Section 1, the authors discuss the mechanisms behind the benefits ofexercise as a theoretical introduction. Robert Kohn starts this section bygiving a detailed epidemiological overview of the occurrence of commonmental disorders including, for example, the prevalence and incidence ofmental disorders, sociodemographic risk factors, the comorbidity and thefinancial burden for the society. Following, Terry McMorris and Jo Corbettpresent existing evidence for neurobiological mechanisms behind the benefitsof exercise for mental health. The purpose of their chapter is to outline theneurobiological changes induced by acute and chronic exercise, which arethought to influence depression, anxiety, and psychological well- being. Intheir chapter entitled “Causality in the associations between exercise, personality,and mental health,” Marleen De Moor and Eco de Geus show that partof the same set of genetic factors that influence whether people participatein regular exercise also affect mental health outcomes. Based on a review ofpublished evidence they further conclude that, in the population at large, theassociation between exercise participation and higher levels of life satisfactionand happiness and lower levels of anxiety and depression is not causal. Theauthors include evidence that immunomodulation is a biological mechanismresponsible for the anti- inflammatory effects of regular exercise. Aderbal SilvaAguiar, Jr. and Alexandra Latini are taking a very close look at an immune perspectivewhen talking about treating depression with exercise.The focus of Section 2 are age- related effects of exercise on mental healthwhich will start out with a chapter on the younger age group by Mirko Wegnerand Henning Budde. This chapter aims to illustrate how physical activity andexercise benefit different areas of mental health in children and adolescentsincluding their general well- being, reductions in depression and anxiety, andbenefits to cognitive functioning. Exercise may positively affect well- beingthrough different neurobiological mechanisms which are highlighted for thisage group of children and adolescents. The second chapter of this sectionis a contribution by Inna Bragina, Claudia Niemann, and Claudia Voelcker-Rehage and focuses on the exercise effect on mental health in older adults.The authors provide insights on how PA and exercise interact with cognitivefunctioning and psychological well- being in older adults. They includeresearch on healthy aging of cognitive functions and the brain, on cognitiveand neuronal plasticity, dementia and mild cognitive impairment, on howphysical activity can prevent or postpone mild cognitive impairment (MCI)and dementia, and support psychological well- being, self- efficacy, and selfesteem.They further show how diseases like dementia, depression, and anxietyinteract and explain the underlying neurobiological mechanisms.Section 3 of this book is dedicated to the exercise effects on cognition andmotor learning. It starts with David Moreau, who stresses a possible impactof physical exercise on cognitive enhancement with a summary of recent workin this field. He presents new experimental evidence for integrated activitiescombining physical and cognitive demands with applications in the classroom.Nico Lehmann and Marco Taubert then talk about exercise- induced improvementin motor learning. They review physical (endurance) exercise as a newapproach to enhance motor skill learning through facilitation of the underlyingneurobiological processes. Megan Herting finishes this third sectionwith a review of research on exercise and learning. In her chapter she reviewssome basic concepts of the ways in which we learn (and remember) informationbefore she dives into the established associations between exercise andthese cognitive abilities as well as the underlying neurobiology.The effects of sport and exercise on emotions and psychological diseases isthe topic in Section 4. The first chapter by Adrian Taylor and Tom Thompsonfocuses on exercise in the prevention, treatment, and management of addictivesubstance use. The chapter begins with identifying the prevalence of addictions,and the implications for health and society. They then briefly identify the scopeand extent of evidence for the effectiveness of current treatment options.Following, they turn to summarizing the evidence (and quality/ risk of bias)of the chronic and acute effects of physical activity on different addictivebehaviors. Finally, they consider the possible mechanisms for how PA has animpact on addictions and they further identify future research questions anddiscuss the practical implications. Attila Szabo, Zsolt Demetrovics and MarkD. Griffiths in their chapter more closely examine morbid exercise behaviorand discuss exaggerated exercise behavior from the perspective of behavioraladdictions. The chapter is followed by a chapter by Davy Vancampfort, SimonRosenbaum, Michel Probst and Brendon Stubbs who provide new insights tothe benefits of aerobic exercise for people with schizophrenia. Their chapterhas two aims, the first is to provide a systematic overview of interventioncharacteristics, exercise outcomes and motivational skills used in recent (i.e.last decade) randomized controlled trials investigating the effect of aerobicexercise in schizophrenia. The second aim is to provide evidence- based clinicaland research recommendations regarding the prescription of exercise inschizophrenia. Jennifer Mumm, Sophie Bischoff, and Andreas Ströhle reviewthe links between exercise on anxiety disorders. They focus on the effect ofdifferent kinds of exercise or PA typically investigated in research on variousforms of anxiety. They also discuss psychological and biological mechanismsof exercise on anxiety. The chapter by Lorna McWilliams is entitled “Exerciseand ADHD: Implications for treatment.” The author outlines the researchsurrounding the promising use of physical activity as a treatment for the disorder,particularly in the aid of development of executive functions. NanetteMutrie, Katie Richards, Stephen Lawrie, and Gillian Mead’s topic is: Canphysical activity prevent or treat clinical depression? In this chapter the authorsexplore the role of physical activity for the prevention and treatment of depression.They discuss in depth the possible neurobiological mechanisms by whichexercise might benefit depression. Finally, they point out various guidelinesabout the role of physical activity that mental health professionals might finduseful.The final section of the book binds chapters dealing with researchimplications for the health sector and for schools. Brandon L. Alderman andRyan L. Olson begin the section by summarizing the available evidence onmode and dose- response relationships of exercise on anxiety, depression,and cognitive functioning. Steven J. Petruzzello, Dan Greene, AnnmarieChizewski, Kathryn Rougeau, and Tina Greenlee provide an overview of acuteand chronic effects of exercise on important mental health outcomes. In addition,they provide important implications for health care practitioners. VivianeGrassmann, George Mammen, and Guy Faulkner raise the question: Canphysical activity prevent mental illness? The focus of their section is to explorewhether physical activity may also serve a role in preventing mental disorders –in particular dementia and depression.The inter- disciplinary research on the link between exercise and mentalhealth represented in this edition is an exciting and vibrant field of researchin which scholars from different areas meet and produce findings that havestrong effects on different domains of society. Our hope is that the interestedreader finds the most recent and in- depth overviews on different aspects ofthe exercise- mental health links including references to underlying neurobiologicalmechanisms. We are looking forward to seeing more researchers andpractitioners working cooperatively to utilize exercise and physical activity inthe applied setting. Finally, we hope that the contributions to this editionencourages researchers to further explore the field and contribute health andwell- being for future generations.Henning Budde and Mirko WegnerAm Wriezener Bahnhof Berlin, January 2018