Interaction between intensity and duration of acute exercise on neuronal activity associated with depression-related behavior in rats

Abstract We examined the activities of serotonin (5-HT) neurons in dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) hypothalamic paraventricular (PVN) during acute treadmill running at different speeds (control, low, high) durations (15, 30, 60 min) male Wistar rats using c-Fos/5-HT or CRF immunohistochemistry. also performed elevated plus maze test (EPM) forced swim (FST) after rats. Acute low speed, regardless exercise duration, significantly increased c-Fos expression 5-HT DRN compared with controls, whereas high-speed activated only 60-min duration. In contrast, PVN was enhanced an intensity-dependent manner, induced by for 30 min, but not 15 positively correlated time spent on open arms EPM negatively immobility FST. These results suggest interaction between intensity duration antidepressant effects physical exercise.