Table of Contents
EDITORIAL
Exercise as metabolic medicine: Movement counters diet-induced behavioral despair via gut-brain signaling 1
Julio Licinio, Ma-Li Wong and Nicholas Fabiano
INNOVATORS & IDEAS: RISING STAR
Hamilton Oh: A journey studying the science of humanity 5
Hamilton Se-Hwee Oh
INNOVATORS & IDEAS: RESEARCH LEADERS
Illana Gozes: From the pivotal discovery of activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) through its investigational drug davunetide: brain molecular medicine providing hope for autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease 9
Illana Gozes
Ana Cristina Andreazza: Driven by curiosity – transforming mental health through mitochondrial innovation 13
Ana C. Andreazza
Inga D. Neumann: Molecular underpinnings of the brain oxytocin system and its involvement in socio-emotional behaviour: More than a love story 17
Inga D. Neumann
Michael C. Oldham: Clarifying the cellular and molecular architecture of the human brain in health and disease through gene coexpression analysis 21
Michael C. Oldham
INNOVATORS & IDEAS: ACADEMIC LEADER
John M. Oldham: Personality styles and personality disorders, a dimensional framework 26
John M. Oldham
Siegfried Kasper: The importance of back-translation of clinical findings to basic science 30
Siegfried Kasper
MINI-REVIEW
Neuromodulation techniques in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Current state of the art 34
Kevin Swierkosz-Lenart, Carolina Viegas … Luc Mallet
THOUGHT LEADERS INVITED REVIEW
Rethinking the impact and management of electroconvulsive therapy session number in depression 42
Yang Ji, Hao Zheng … Yanghua Tian
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Exercise mitigates the effects of a cafeteria diet on antidepressant-like behavior associated with plasma and microbial metabolites in adult male rats 52
Minke H.C. Nota, Sarah Nicolas … Yvonne M. Nolan
Cover Art
Cover Image: Exercise counters cafeteria diet-induced behavioral despair through metabolic and gut-brain mechanisms. This issue's cover illustrates the interplay between diet, exercise, and mental health investigated by Nota and colleagues. In adult male rats, voluntary wheel running mitigated the increase in immobility (a depression-like behavior) induced by a Western-style cafeteria diet high in saturated fat and sugar. Exercise also exerted modest anxiolytic effects and improvements in spatial learning independent of diet. The antidepressant-like effects of exercise in cafeteria diet-fed rats were accompanied by attenuation of diet-induced increases in plasma insulin and leptin, and restoration of caecal metabolites including anserine, indole-3-carboxylate, and deoxyinosine. Exercise increased circulating GLP-1 and promoted adult hippocampal neurogenesis in chow-fed animals; however, both effects were blunted in rats exposed to the cafeteria diet. Correlation analyses revealed associations between specific caecal metabolites and depression- and cognition-related behaviors, independent of diet and exercise. These findings provide insight into metabolic hormone and gut-derived metabolite mechanisms underlying the effects of cafeteria diet and exercise on brain and behavior, with implications for the microbiotagut-brain axis in mood disorders. Cover image adapted from research by Nota et al. (pages [52–66]) and discussed in the accompanying editorial by Licinio et al. (pages [1–4]).
Image credits: Left panel generated by Grok XAI after extensive human interaction with the editor; right panel by satyrenko via Depositphotos.
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