Abstract: Physical exercise has beneficial effects on mental health. In particular, exercise was shown to reduce depressive symptomatology and clinical depression. The neurotrophic hypothesis of depression believed that decreased neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus and expression of neurotrophic factors contributes to depression, but up-regulation of both neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus and expression of neurotrophic factors plays a key role in the actions of antidepressant treatment. Like antidepressants, chronic wheel-running exercise also increases neurotrophic factors expression and adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus. This review provides that exercise results in antidepressant-like behavioral changes that may involve a neurotrophic mechanism similar to that hypothesized for antidepressant treatments.

Key words: exercise, depression, stress, neurogenesis, neurotrophic factors, intracellular signaling transduction, gene transcription