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Effects of physical activity on cognitive performance: a controlled clinical study in depressive patients

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European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Physical activity is a common adjunctive therapy in psychiatric and psychosomatic hospitals. In the present study, we assessed the effects of an exercise program, integrated into routine inpatient treatment, on cognitive performance and subjective severity of depression in a sample of patients suffering from major depression. We randomized n = 38 patients with unipolar depression to either physical exercise (n = 18) or occupational therapy as an active control treatment (n = 20). Both treatments were delivered in group format over a period of 3–4 weeks. Data indicate that there were significant improvements of cognitive functions and depressive symptoms in both groups, with specific treatment effects in reaction time and in short-term verbal memory favoring the physical activity group. In conclusion, we found physical exercise to be a feasible, easy-to-implement add-on therapy for depressive patients with promising effects on cognitive performance. However, these results need to be replicated in larger samples with an extended follow-up.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our colleagues at the kbo-Inn-Salzach-Klinikum, in particular Mr. Ralf Rössler (Head of Sports Therapy) and Dr. Johannes Unterberger (Head of Occupational Therapy), and the staff of the Department of Neuropsychology, Ms. Michaela Wende and Ms. Brigitte Peters, for their active support during the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuropsychology, kbo-Inn-Salzach-Klinikum, Psychiatric Hospital, Gabersee 13, 83512, Wasserburg am Inn, Germany

    V. Buschert, D. Prochazka, H. Bartl, J. Diemer, P. Zwanzger & A. Brunnauer

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany

    B. Malchow

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany

    B. Malchow, P. Zwanzger & A. Brunnauer

Authors
  1. V. Buschert
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  2. D. Prochazka
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  3. H. Bartl
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  4. J. Diemer
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  5. B. Malchow
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  6. P. Zwanzger
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  7. A. Brunnauer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Brunnauer.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest to declare for this study.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

See Table 3.

Table 3 Medications prescribed according to intervention groups and time of neuropsychological testing
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Buschert, V., Prochazka, D., Bartl, H. et al. Effects of physical activity on cognitive performance: a controlled clinical study in depressive patients. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 269, 555–563 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-018-0916-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-018-0916-0

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