Effects Of Acute Aerobic Exercise On The Improvement Of Food Reward And Brain Activation Characteristics In Drug Addicts

Purpose: Drug addiction is characterised by overvaluation of drug-related rewards and undervaluation of “natural”,non-drug-related rewards,such as money reward and food reward.Studies have shown that acute aerobic exercise can reduce the incidence of MA-dependent individuals' craving for drug-related cues,but the impact of exercise on food reward in this population has yet to be established.The aim of this study was to determine the effects of moderate and high-intensity acute aerobic exercise on food reward and subjective feelings of appetite and use functional near-infrared spectroscopy(f NIRS)to measure the prefrontal activity related to food images in MA-dependent populations to investigate brain processing characteristics in drug dependents.Methods:(1)Forty-four men,who met the DSM-V criteria for MA dependence,were randomly assigned to two exercise training groups: moderate-(n=22)or high-(n=22)intensity.Each group performed a resting control or exercise session for 35 min,1wk apart,in a counterbalanced order.Food reward(explicit liking,implicit wanting and relative preference)for high or low fat and sweet or savoury food images was assessed by the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire and subjective feelings of appetite were measured by VAS,including fullness,hunger and desire to eat.(2)56 men who met the met the same criteria,were randomly assigned to one of two exercise groups: moderate intensity(n=28)and high intensity(n=28;).Each group also performed a resting control session for 35 min 1 week before or after the exercise,in a counterbalanced order.Mean oxygenated hemoglobin concentration changes in the PFC when viewing visual food cues were assessed by f NIRS after moderate-or high-intensity aerobic exercise and after the resting control session.Results:(1)Greater relative preference(high: P=0.018;moderate: P=0.034)and implicit wanting(high: P=0.018;moderate: P=0.034)for high-fat savoury foods was noted following acute aerobic exercise compared to the control session.High intensity exercise also increased subjective sensations of hunger(F(1,42)=8.28,P=0.006).(2)We found that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise significantly increased both,the activation of the left orbitofrontal cortex(OFC)to images of high-calorie food(P = 0.02).Conclusions: The current study provides the first evidence that acute aerobic exercise can increase reward for high fat savoury foods and stimulate appetite in MA-dependent individuals.At the same time,moderate-intensity aerobic exercise increases OFC activity associated with high-calorie food images and stimulates appetite in methamphetamine-dependent individuals.