Dopamine D2/3-receptor availability and its association with autonomous motivation to exercise in older adults: An exploratory [11C]-raclopride study

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

Dokumenter

  • Fulltext

    Forlagets udgivne version, 3,03 MB, PDF-dokument

Background: Autonomous motivation to exercise occurs when the activity is voluntary and with a perceived inherent satisfaction from the activity itself. It has been suggested that autonomous motivation is related to striatal dopamine D2/3-receptor (D2/3R) availability within the brain. In this study, we hypothesized that D2/3R availability in three striatal regions (nucleus accumbens, caudate nucleus, and putamen) would be positively associated with self-reported autonomous motivation to exercise. We also examined this relationship with additional exploratory analyses across a set of a priori extrastriatal regions of interest (ROI). Methods: Our sample comprised 49 older adults (28 females) between 64 and 78 years of age. The D2/3R availability was quantified from positron emission tomography using the non-displaceable binding potential of [11C]-raclopride ligand. The exercise-related autonomous motivation was assessed with the Swedish version of the Behavioral Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire-2. Results: No significant associations were observed between self-reported autonomous motivation to exercise and D2/3R availability within the striatum (nucleus accumbens, caudate nucleus, and putamen) using semi-partial correlations controlling for ROI volume on D2/3R availability. For exploratory analyses, positive associations were observed for the superior (r = 0.289, p = 0.023) and middle frontal gyrus (r = 0.330, p = 0.011), but not for the inferior frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, or anterior insular cortex. Conclusion: This study could not confirm the suggested link between striatal D2/3R availability and subjective autonomous motivation to exercise among older adults. The exploratory findings, however, propose that frontal brain regions may be involved in the intrinsic regulation of exercise-related behaviors, though this has to be confirmed by future studies using a more suitable ligand and objective measures of physical activity levels.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer997131
TidsskriftFrontiers in Human Neuroscience
Vol/bind16
ISSN1662-5161
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2022

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 2012–00530), the Västerbotten County Council, the Swedish Research Council for Sport Science, the Umeå School of Sport Sciences, and the Kamprad Family Foundation.

Funding Information:
We thank Lars Nyberg for valuable comments on earlier drafts and the staff at Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI) and the University Hospital of Umeå for providing excellent research conditions. This study was accomplished within the context of the Swedish National Graduate School for Competitive Science on Ageing and Health (SWEAH) funded by the Swedish Research Council.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Simonsson, Stiernman, Lundquist, Rosendahl, Hedlund, Lindelöf and Boraxbekk.

ID: 329614108