Boecker Henning, Daamen Marcel, Maurer Angelika, Bodensohn Luisa, Werkhausen Judith, Lohaus Marvin, Manunzio Christian, Manunzio Ursula, Radbruch Alexander, Attenberger Ulrike, Dukart Juergen, Upadhyay Neeraj
Clinical Functional Imaging Group, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Clinical Research, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Front Neuroimaging. 2024 Feb 22;3:1332384. doi: 10.3389/fnimg.2024.1332384. eCollection 2024.
Dopaminergic, opiod and endocannabinoid neurotransmission are thought to play an important role in the neurobiology of acute exercise and, in particular, in mediating positive affective responses and reward processes. Recent evidence indicates that changes in fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (zfALFF) in resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) may reflect changes in specific neurotransmitter systems as tested by means of spatial correlation analyses.
Here, we investigated this relationship at different exercise intensities in twenty young healthy trained athletes performing low-intensity (LIIE), high-intensity (HIIE) interval exercises, and a control condition on three separate days. Positive And Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) scores and rs-fMRI were acquired before and after each of the three experimental conditions. Respective zfALFF changes were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVAs. We examined the spatial correspondence of changes in zfALFF before and after training with the available neurotransmitter maps across all voxels and additionally, hypothesis-driven, for neurotransmitter maps implicated in the neurobiology of exercise (dopaminergic, opiodic and endocannabinoid) in specific brain networks associated with "reward" and "emotion."
Elevated PANAS Positive Affect was observed after LIIE and HIIE but not after the control condition. HIIE compared to the control condition resulted in differential zfALFF decreases in precuneus, temporo-occipital, midcingulate and frontal regions, thalamus, and cerebellum, whereas differential zfALFF increases were identified in hypothalamus, pituitary, and periaqueductal gray. The spatial alteration patterns in zfALFF during HIIE were positively associated with dopaminergic and μ-opioidergic receptor distributions within the 'reward' network.
These findings provide new insight into the neurobiology of exercise supporting the importance of reward-related neurotransmission at least during high-intensity physical activity.
多巴胺能、阿片类和内源性大麻素神经传递被认为在急性运动的神经生物学中发挥重要作用，尤其是在介导积极情感反应和奖赏过程方面。最近的证据表明，静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）中低频波动分数振幅（zfALFF）的变化可能反映特定神经递质系统的变化，这已通过空间相关性分析得到验证。
在此，我们对20名年轻健康的训练有素的运动员进行了研究，他们在三天内分别进行低强度（LIIE）、高强度（HIIE）间歇运动以及对照条件下的运动，以探究不同运动强度下的这种关系。在三种实验条件中的每一种前后，均获取了正负情感量表（PANAS）得分和rs-fMRI数据。使用重复测量方差分析来分析各自的zfALFF变化。我们检查了训练前后zfALFF变化与所有体素上可用神经递质图谱的空间对应关系，此外，还针对与“奖赏”和“情感”相关的特定脑网络中与运动神经生物学相关的神经递质图谱（多巴胺能、阿片类和内源性大麻素）进行了假设驱动分析。
在LIIE和HIIE后观察到PANAS积极情感得分升高，但在对照条件后未观察到。与对照条件相比，HIIE导致楔前叶、颞枕叶、中央前回中部和额叶区域、丘脑和小脑中的zfALFF有差异地降低，而在下丘脑、垂体和导水管周围灰质中发现了zfALFF有差异地增加。HIIE期间zfALFF的空间改变模式与“奖赏”网络内的多巴胺能和μ-阿片受体分布呈正相关。
这些发现为运动神经生物学提供了新的见解，支持了至少在高强度体育活动期间奖赏相关神经传递的重要性。
