Introduction
Drug dependence causes an overestimation of drug-related stimuli and an underestimation of non-drug-related stimuli, such as food. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute moderate-intensity dance and aerobic exercise on drug craving, appetite, prefrontal neural activation to food cues and food reward in women with MA dependence.
Methods
Thirty-nine women who met the DSM-V MA dependence criteria participated in the experiment and were randomly assigned to either a dance (n = 20) or exercise (n = 19) group. A moderate-intensity (65% ~ 75% Max HR) 35-minute dance or treadmill intervention counterbalanced with a reading control session were conducted. After the intervention or control, subjective drug craving was measured before and after exposure to drug-related cues. Visual analog scales (VAS) were used to measure subjective feelings of appetite. Participants then completed a visual food cue paradigm while using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to monitor prefrontal blood oxygen changes. Finally, the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire (LFPQ) was used to measure reward responses to different categories of food.
Results
The results showed that the dance and exercise interventions reduced subjective craving for drugs after being exposed to drug cues (P = 0.019). Implicit wanting (P < 0.001) and relative preferences (P = 0.001) for high-calorie savoury foods were all increased after interventions relative to control. Compared with the control session, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (P = 0.020) was activated when viewing high-calorie foods after moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.
Conclusions
The current results support the use of moderate-intensity exercise as a therapeutic intervention to restore the balance between drug and non-drug rewards by decreasing cue-induced MA craving and increasing food reward.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)