Exercise improves sensitivity to dopamine | Giselle Petzinger
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The motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease usually occur when half or more of the brain's dopamine-producing neurons are lost. Some early research suggests that people with Parkinson's disease who performed high-intensity treadmill exercise had higher levels of dopamine receptors in their brains than those who did not exercise. Enhanced dopamine receptors may enable people with the disorder to better utilize their remaining dopamine. In this clip, Dr. Giselle Petzinger explains that strenuous exercise affects dopamine sensitivity in the brains of people with Parkinson's disease.
[Rhonda]: Didn't you also publish...a few years ago, you had a very small pilot trial where you showed patients with Parkinson's disease early diagnosed. I think they were medication-free even. And you had them doing this sort of moderate to intense high-intensity treadmill exercise and it seemed to change the way the sensitivity of their brain to dopamine, or to some of the receptors, dopamine receptors. So like they're basically using it better, you know, the little they have, it's better at it, you know?
[Giselle]: Right. More efficient. Yeah. So that was another thing that we had seen, which is actually changes in dopamine receptors. Right. So the idea was that we'd taken patients who had not been on anything and essentially...no meds anyway, and, you know, were recently diagnosed and then putting them on a treadmill. And I would argue that although the treadmill, again, so intensity in two ways, one obviously getting their heart rate up, but they were actually also getting a lot of feedback on gait and balance, again, constantly correcting, going up on speed. So they had to become more accurate.
[Rhonda]: So having like a personal trainer seemed to kind of be very important.
[Giselle]: Yeah. They were getting tons of feedback. And by going up on speeds, now you're having to work harder to make sure you're accurate. So, again, you're in the zone, if you will. But in any event, yeah. So we were able to show that we saw changes in dopamine receptor levels, with the idea being that the amount of dopamine you have with a better receptor expression, you're becoming more efficient. And that was duplicating what we saw in the animal model. So this was kind of nice to be able to show it in both a rodent model and translate it into humans.
[Rhonda]: It goes along with the adaptations you were just talking about as well.
[Giselle]: Absolutely. Yes.
A neurotransmitter best known for its role in motor, motivation, and pleasure control. Dopamine also functions as a paracrine (cell-to-cell) hormone in other parts of the body. It is derived from tyrosine and is the precursor to norepinephrine and epinephrine. Some evidence suggests that dopamine may also be involved in pain modulation.
Important for the endocrine enhancing properties of exercise. Exerkines are exercise-induced hormonal-like factors which mediate the systemic benefits of exercise through autocrine, paracrine, and/or endocrine properties.[1]
- ^ Helge, Jørn Wulff; Moritz, Thomas; Morville, Thomas; Clemmensen, Christoffer; Dela, Flemming (2020). Plasma Metabolome Profiling Of Resistance Exercise And Endurance Exercise In Humans Cell Reports 33, 13.
An essential mineral present in many foods. Iron participates in many physiological functions and is a critical component of hemoglobin. Iron deficiency can cause anemia, fatigue, shortness of breath, and heart arrhythmias.
A neurodegenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system. Parkinson’s disease is caused by destruction of nerve cells in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra. It typically manifests later in life and is characterized by tremors and a shuffling gait.
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