Effect Of Acute Exercise On Functional Brain Activity In MA-dependent Individuals

Methamphetamine(MA)dependence has been considered as serious public health issues.During withdrawal from methamphetamine(MA)dependence,individuals report symptoms including craving,anhedonia,cognitive impairment,and negative affect.Relief from these symptoms is believed to be a major factor that motivates drug use.Previous studies have demonstrated that physical exercise interventions can reduce cue-induced craving and the symptoms of negative mood states,as well as improve cognitive function,and in health participants.However,the underlying mechanism of brain function during drug rehabilitation training is not fully understood.The objective of the present study are to characterize the effects of VR-based competitive cycling excise on the neurocognitive functioning of cue-induced craving,cognitive functions,and negative affect states,to better understand the potential efficacy of exercise as a treatment for MA-dependence.1.Thirty MA-dependent individuals watched 12 blocks of MA-related cues and neural cues both before and after a 10 min VR competitive cycling exercise.Functional near-infrared spectroscopy(f NIRS)were recorded during the stimulation conditions.The f NIRS results show that the craving signal most proportional to MA related cues was located in the orbitofrontal cortex(OFC)and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC).The craving-related signal was attenuated by inactivation of the DLPFC after exercise.These findings indicate that acute exercise may underlie addiction by attenuate the activation of OFC and DLPFC and the functional connection between these two areas.2.Thirty MA-dependent individuals performed a color-word Stroop task and underwent a POMS scale assessment both before and after a 10 min VR competitive cycling exercise.(f NIRS)were recorded during the pre-and post-exercise Stroop tasks and during rest.After acute exercise,neural activity,along with improved Stroop performance,was enhanced significantly in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and primary motor cortex.Also observed during post-exercise Stroop tasks was a more efficient network architecture in the topological organization of brain networks than during the pre-exercise Stroop tasks.As for resting states before versus after exercise,we detected an increased functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex after exercise.These results suggest that an acute bout of VR competitive cycling exercise facilitates executive information processing by enhancing task-related cortical activations and brain functional network efficiency in MA-dependent individuals.To sum up,exercise intervention is an effective method to promote the recovery of MA-dependent individuals.Acute high or medium intensity cycling exercise can effectively alleviate craving for drugs,improve cognitive function and improve mood.The results of this study provide empirical evidence for the mechanism of exercise intervention to promote cerebral cortex recovery in MA-dependent individuals,and help them to better detoxification and return to society.