Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

The overall objective of this research is to investigate whether a 12 week structured, supervised exercise program can promote changes in hippocampal function in depressed individuals and whether this is associated with improvements in depression, memory and cortisol status. Hypotheses It is hypothesized that the effect of exercise on depression will normalize disrupted levels of the steroid hormone cortisol, with concomitant improvements in both depression and hippocampal function and the associated symptom of memory impairment. Specifically, a)Hippocampal activation (assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging) will be positively correlated with improvements in depression scores. b)Participants who exercise will show significant improvements in depression scores and hippocampal function as well as lower levels of cortisol than those in the MHDTP only group. c)Changes in cortisol secretion will be inversely correlated with changes in hippocampal and improved cardiovascular fitness as measured by change in maximal oxygen uptake. Also, maximum oxygen uptake will be inversely correlated with cortisol levels.