Exercise Leads to Brain Glucose Metabolism Activation, Increased Dopamine D1 Receptor Levels and is Negatively Correlated with Social Behavior

Chronic aerobic exercise did not significantly alter social interaction, TH, or D2R binding. D1R binding was enhanced in the exercise group compared with the sedentary group and was negatively correlated with social interaction. We speculate that approach behavior was attenuated by exercise due to social threat stimulation. Functional connectivity imaging data showed significant glucose metabolic activation within the cuneiform nucleus, which has been previously shown to be critical in defensive behavior. This may explain the lack of significant effect of exercise on approach or exploratory behavior. These findings support the potential of exercise in response to social behavior and the possible attenuation of social behavior towards a social threat or socially inappropriate behavior. Exercise can induce metabolic transience that may assist rats in detecting odors from larger predatory animals.