Establishing animal model for understanding brain mechanisms to avoid exercise: a possible involvement of amygdala

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K11393
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 59020:Sports sciences-related
• Research Institution: Health Sciences University of Hokkaido
• Principal Investigator: Koshiro Inoue 北海道医療大学, リハビリテーション科学部, 講師 (30708574)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 嫌悪刺激 / ストレス / 扁桃体 / 運動様式 / マウス系統

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study investigated whether the amygdala is involved in the behaviour of accepting and memorizing the exercise as an aversive stimulus, and avoiding it, by using a stress-sensitive BALB/c mice. The results showed that, in the mice, forced treadmill running exercise (TR) caused an enhanced stress response (the elevated plasma corticosterone, and the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus activation) and activation of an amygdala region, which involved in the formation of aversive memories, and that there were a significant positive correlation between the stress responses and the amygdala activation. These results suggest that the amygdala may be a potential target for future investigations of brain mechanism to avoid exercise basing on memory of aversive stimuli. In addition, attempts to establish a new behavioural test to assess TR memory and avoidance were unsuccessful, and further studies, including protocols, are required in the future.

Free Research Field

スポーツ科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により、運動をストレス性の嫌悪刺激として受容・記憶する脳領域の候補として扁桃体の関与が示唆された。我々には、記憶された嫌悪刺激を回避するという行動特性が備わっており、本研究の結果は、運動離れ（嫌いな運動を避ける行動）を引き起こす脳機能解明に向けた基盤データになると考えられる。我が国では、運動習慣者率の改善が大きな課題になっているが、運動離れの行動特性や脳機構が分かれば、改善のための手立てを検討する際の一助にもなり得ると考えられる。