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Physical activity compensates affective downsides of daily life aloneness

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Combining accelerometry, electronic diaries and neuroimaging, we found that physical activity is reproducibly linked to better wellbeing in people lacking social contact in everyday life, especially in people at neural and psychological risk of affective disorders.

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Fig. 1: Physical activity reduces the negative effects of aloneness on wellbeing in daily life.

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This is a summary of: Benedyk, A. et al. Real-life behavioral and neural circuit markers of physical activity as a compensatory mechanism for social isolation. Nat. Ment. Health https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00204-6 (2024).

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Physical activity compensates affective downsides of daily life aloneness. Nat. Mental Health 2, 261–262 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00205-5

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