Resistance Exercise for Major Depression and Brain Blood Flow
Official title: Resistance Exercise to Treat Major Depression via Cerebrovascular Mechanisms: Confirming Efficacy and Informing Precision Medicine
Funded at University of Wisconsin-Madison · NIH-11261418 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project explores if resistance exercise can help people with major depression by improving blood flow in the brain.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Wisconsin-Madison NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Madison, United States) |
| Project start | June 22, 2023 |
| Project end | May 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2024 |
| Award (this year) | $670,331 |
| NIH project number | 7R01MH130566-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11261418 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for future participation would be adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder who are interested in exploring exercise as a treatment.
✕Less likely to help
Patients whose depression is well-managed by existing treatments or who have medical conditions preventing resistance exercise may not receive additional benefit from this specific approach.
What this research studies
Many current treatments for major depression don't work well for everyone, so we need new options. Resistance exercise training, like lifting weights, has shown promise in early findings for reducing depression symptoms. This work aims to confirm if resistance exercise is truly effective and to understand how it might work by looking at changes in brain blood flow. We hope to identify who might benefit most from this type of exercise, paving the way for more personalized depression treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could offer a new, effective treatment option for major depression, especially for those who haven't responded well to other therapies.
How similar studies have gone: Early, small studies have shown promising antidepressant effects of resistance exercise, providing a foundation for this larger investigation.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Meyer, Jacob D — University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Study coordinator: Meyer, Jacob D
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Trans-Nordic look at extreme major depression genetics
A large genetics study is exploring what makes extreme forms of major depression unique, by studying many thousands of people and their DNA.
-
Genetic factors behind alcohol and opioid use disorders and depression in veterans
A study using genetic data from veterans to understand how genes contribute to co-occurring alcohol use, prescription opioid use, and depression.
-
Global Deep Learning effort to predict depression treatment response
A patient-focused project uses AI on brain scans to predict who with major depression will respond to rTMS treatment.
-
Understanding immune dysfunction and social stress in veterans with depression
A study in U.S. veterans with major depressive disorder looks at how stress-related immune changes may be linked to depression and heart health.
-
Risk pathways to major depression using big Danish and Swedish data
A large study using health and genetic data from Denmark and Sweden will help understand what genetic and environmental factors contribute to major depression across how people grow up.
-
Understanding genetic and environmental pathways to major depression in Nordic health records
A large study will look at how genes and life experiences combine over time to influence major depression, using Danish and Swedish population data.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.