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
Review
. 2013 Sep;37(8):1622-44.
doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.06.011. Epub 2013 Jun 24.

Exercise as a novel treatment for drug addiction: a neurobiological and stage-dependent hypothesis

Wendy J Lynch  1 , Alexis B Peterson, Victoria Sanchez, Jean Abel, Mark A Smith
Affiliations
Review

Exercise as a novel treatment for drug addiction: a neurobiological and stage-dependent hypothesis

Wendy J Lynch et al. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

Physical activity, and specifically exercise, has been suggested as a potential treatment for drug addiction. In this review, we discuss clinical and preclinical evidence for the efficacy of exercise at different phases of the addiction process. Potential neurobiological mechanisms are also discussed focusing on interactions with dopaminergic and glutamatergic signaling and chromatin remodeling in the reward pathway. While exercise generally produces an efficacious response, certain exercise conditions may be either ineffective or lead to detrimental effects depending on the level/type/timing of exercise exposure, the stage of addiction, the drug involved, and the subject population. During drug use initiation and withdrawal, its efficacy may be related to its ability to facilitate dopaminergic transmission, and once addiction develops, its efficacy may be related to its ability to normalize glutamatergic and dopaminergic signaling and reverse drug-induced changes in chromatin via epigenetic interactions with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the reward pathway. We conclude with future directions, including the development of exercise-based interventions alone or as an adjunct to other strategies for treating drug addiction.

Keywords: Addiction; Animal models; Chromatin; Clinical; Dopamine; Epigenetic; Exercise; Glutamate; Neurobiological mechanisms.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Aaron DJ, Dearwater SR, Anderson R, Olsen T, Kriska AM, Laporte RE. Physical activity and the initiation of high-risk health behaviors in adolescents. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1995;27(12):1639–1645. - PubMed
    1. Ahmed SH. The science of making drug-addicted animals. Neuroscience. 2012;1, 211:107–125. - PubMed
    1. Ahmed SH, Koob GF. Changes in response to a dopamine receptor antagonist in rats with escalating cocaine intake. Psychopharmacology. 2004;172(4):450–454. - PubMed
    1. Allen RM, Dykstra LA, Carelli RM. Continuous exposure to the competitive N-methyl-D: -aspartate receptor antagonist, LY235959, facilitates escalation of cocaine consumption in Sprague-Dawley rats. Psychopharmacology. 2007;191(2):341–351. - PubMed
    1. Angelucci F, Ricci V, Pomponi M, Conte G, Mathé AA, Tonali PA, Bria P. Chronic heroin and cocaine abuse is associated with decreased serum concentrations of the nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factors. J. Psychopharmacol. 2007;21:820–825. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

-