A healthy outlet for stress is getting some form of exercise. However, inactivity is on the rise in America. There are many barriers to exercise that might explain this inactivity. Expensive gym memberships, gym equipment, as well as having the space and time to dedicate to moving your body are major factors to account for. However, an under-considered barrier might be one’s stress itself. In a study titled “The persistence of stress-induced physical inactivity in rats: an investigation of central monoamine neurotransmitters and skeletal muscle oxidative stress” by Dr. Trevor Buhr and other researchers, studied the impact of stress and post traumatic stress disorder on exercise activity in rats. They were exposed to either 0, 50, or 100 electric tail shocks, posing as the stressor. Then after 36 hours, their wheel activity was measured.
The findings were that rats who had been shocked stopped running sooner than those who were not shocked. Dr. Buhr also concluded that there were impacts on an indirect pathway for medium spiny neurons in striatum on the rats that experienced the shocks. These impacts may cause less dopamine to be released as one exercises after facing a major stressor. Thus, there is less motivation for one to continue partaking in or even starting physical activity, as there is less positive reinforcement for movement.
Exercise is important, especially for those with post traumatic stress disorder. According to study titled “Augmenting trauma-focused psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder with brief aerobic exercise in Australia: a randomised clinical trial” by Richard A Bryant et al., as featured in Neuroscience News, it was found that those with diagnosed PTSD who repeatedly incorporated 10 minutes of aerobic exercise along with exposure therapy, saw reduced CAPS-2 scores compared to those who went through exposure therapy alone. This points to exercise being extremely beneficial for the treatment of post traumatic stress disorders.
But how can one receive the benefits of exercise if they lack the motivation to partake in it? This is the question researchers are asking at the University of Ottawa. In their article “Exercise mimetics as unexplored therapeutics for treating depression” they discuss the possibility of creating a pill that uses exercise mimetics. This drug could in theory activate the same reward pathway as exercise without having to physically partake in it. This would be helpful for those suffering from the impacts of post traumatic stress disorder and depression, as the lack of motivation to start or continue exercise can prevent them from maximizing its benefits. If this possibility were to move forward, exercise could become more accessible, as there would be less barriers to receiving its benefits.
References:
Fabiano, N., Fiedorowicz, J.G., Ravel-Chapuis, A. et al. Exercise mimetics as unexplored therapeutics for treating depression. Mol Psychiatry 31, 3683–3686 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03499-2
Neuroscience News. (2026, February 22). Could an “Exercise pill” help treat depression? Neuroscience News. https://neurosciencenews.com/exercise-mimetics-depression-30168/
Neuroscience News. (2022, November 28). Ten minutes of aerobic exercise with exposure therapy found to reduce PTSD symptoms. https://neurosciencenews.com/ptsd-exercise-21951/
Buhr TJ, Reed CH, Wee OM, Lee JH, Yuan L-L, Fleshner M, Valentine RJ and Clark PJ (2023) The persistence of stress-induced physical inactivity in rats: an investigation of central monoamine neurotransmitters and skeletal muscle oxidative stress. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 17:1169151. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1169151
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