Abstract:
As an easily performed modality of health behaviors, exercise has been found to be substantially effective in combating depression. Major research attention has been directed towards the mechanisms of such effects, which would help to understand, from a practical perspective, how to better design exercise interventions to reduce depression. This study reviewed studies on research advancements in the neurobiological mechanisms of exercise′s effect on depression, including monoamine hypothesis, neuroendocrine hypothesis, neuroinflammatory hypotheses, neurogenesis hypothesis, and hypothesis of anatomical and structural changes in brain. According to accumulative research evidence, these hypotheses have received empirical support. However, due to restrains in research design and methodology, to date, none of these hypotheses have been sufficiently confirmed by empirical evidence and universally accepted. Future studies are warranted to further explore the following issues: the differential effects of exercise characteristics on the neurobiological changes associated with depression, the possible reciprocal and interactive relationship between different neurobiological pathways, as well as the ecological validity of studies.
