Abstract
Chronic drug abuse has been shown to cause dysfunctions on the frontal lobe and affect cognition, cardiac autonomic control and psychosocial aspects. Despite physical exercise has been shown to improve cerebral functioning, the effects of a high intensity exercise training program needs to be further explored in a drug abuse condition. The patient was a 32-year-old male who has been an alcohol and crack/cocaine user for 20 years. The high intensity exercise training protocol consisted of four 30-second “all-out” bouts performed three times per week during four weeks. The participant had electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, cognition, cardiac autonomic control and psychosocial questionnaires evaluated before and after high intensity exercise training. Prefrontal cortex (PFC) oxygenation during an incremental running exercise test was also recorded. EEG topographical analysis revealed greater PFC activation during the cognitive test. Performance on the cognitive test was enhanced (l number of total errors and reaction time). Parasympathetic cardiac indices, including RMSSD, SDNN, Pnn50% and HF power increased by 77.4%, 83.3%, 57.7% and 293.2%, respectively. Sleep quality increased 23% and anxiety levels decreased 52.6%. Psychological and social domains increased 5.3% and 13.7%, respectively. In addition, incremental treadmill running time increased 12.5% and PFC oxyhemoglobin increased 228.2% at the beginning of the treadmill test, 305.4% at the middle and 359.4% at the end of the test. Thus, high intensity exercise training improved PFC functioning, cardiac autonomic control and psychological parameters. These results might indicate high intensity exercise as an alternative and non-pharmacological tool to help the rehabilitation of a drug abuser.
Highlights
Chronic alcohol ingestion is a serious problem around the globe and is related to 3.3 million deaths per year (“Alcohol Facts and Statistics | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),” n.d.)
Parasympathetic cardiac indices, including RMSSD, SDNN, Pnn50% and high frequency power (HF) power increased by 77.4%, 83.3%, 57.7% and 293.2%, respectively
To the best of our knowledge, this is a pioneering work that investigates the effects of high intensity exercise training on the brain of an alcohol and crack/cocaine user
Summary
It may lead to psychosocial issues, such as anxiety, depression, antisocial and suicidal behaviors (Blanco-Gandía et al, 2015). It is shown to affect cardiovascular function (Whitman et al, 2017), to deteriorate and decrease oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) (Schecklmann et al, 2007), and to reduce brain volume in some prosencephalic regions (Wang et al, 2016). Crack/cocaine is shown to cause endothelial dysfunction, accelerated atherosclerosis, alterations in blood flow (Bachi et al, 2017) and elevation of adrenergic activity (Fischbach, 2017). Anxiety, depression and decreased quality of life are reported in crack/cocaine users (Paiva et al, 2017). Studies have demonstrated lower dopamine levels (Areal, Herlinger, Pelição, Martins-Silva, & Pires, 2017) associated with a lower concentration of dopamine D2 receptors in the PFC and a lower firing rate of dopaminergic neurons that project their axons from the ventral tegmental area to areas of the reward system (i.e. PFC, nucleus accumbens, striatum, hippocampus, and amygdala) (Volkow, Fowler, Wang, Baler, & Telang, 2009)
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