title: Potential Therapeutic Effects of Physical Exercise for Bipolar Disorder.
abstract: Cognitive deficits are observed in a variety of domains in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). These deficits are attributed to neurobiological, functional and structural brain factors, particularly in prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, cortical alterations in each phase (mania/hypomania, euthymia and depression) are also present. A growing basis of evidence supports aerobic exercise as an alternative treatment method for BD symptoms. Its benefits for physical health in healthy subjects and some psychiatric disorders are fairly established; however evidence directly addressed to BD is scant. Lack of methodological consistency, mainly related to exercise, makes it difficult accuracy and extrapolation of the results. Nevertheless, mechanisms related to BD physiopathology, such as hormonal and neurotransmitters alterations and mainly related to brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF) can be explored. BDNF, specially, have a large influence on brain ability and its gene expression is highly responsive to aerobic exercise. Moreover, aerobic exercise trough BDNF may induce chronic stress suppression, commonly observed in patients with BD, and reduce deleterious effects caused by allostatic loads. Therefore, it is prudent to propose that aerobic exercise plays an important role in BD physiopathological mechanisms and it is a new way for the treatment for this and others psychiatric disorders.
authors.forename: Alberto Souza
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: de Sá Filho
authors.forename: Antonio Marcos
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: de Souza Moura
authors.forename: Murilo Khede
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lamego
authors.forename: Nuno Barbosa
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Ferreira Rocha
authors.forename: Flávia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paes
authors.forename: Ana Cristina
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lattari
authors.forename: Ridson
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rimes
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manochio
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budde
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wegner
authors.forename: Gioia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mura
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arias-Carrión
authors.forename: Elie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cheniaux
authors.forename: Ti-Fei
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Antonio Egidio
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.affiliation: Panic and Respiration Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry (IPUB) - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. secm80@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Machado
mesh_terms: D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D006801:Humans