Physical activity (PA) is very beneficial for physical and mental health. This study aims to examine the resilience-inducting effect of PA in adult male Wistar rats exposed to unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS). Furthermore, we analyzed the influence of PA on behavioral tasks and functional brain connectivity with cytochrome c oxidase technique. The cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) is a mitochondrial enzyme involved in oxidative phosphorylation and ATP generation. For this analysis, we included five groups: Basal (n = 10, to determine the basal level of brain activity), Behav (n = 15, subjected exclusively to behavioral tests), PA (n = 10, exposed to physical activity), UCMS (n = 15, subjected to a stress protocol) and PA + UCMS (n = 15, exposed to PA prior to stress). The UCMS protocol consisted of randomly presenting several different stressors over four consecutive weeks. We evaluated several behaviors of the Behav, UCMS, and PA + UCMS groups. This assessment includes the hedonic responses using the sucrose consumption task, unconditioned anxiety with the zero maze, and coping strategies assessed with the cat odor test. The UCMS group showed an anhedonia profile and increased anxiety compared with the other groups. Although in the exposure to cat odor test, the PA + UCMS remained for the same time in the cat odor compartment as the other groups, it did not approach the odor, showing that it detected the risk. This response is more adaptive than the responses of the UCMS and Behav groups. An exploratory analysis of the cerebral connections showed an increase in CCO activity in the UCMS group compared to the other groups. This overactivity was reduced in dorsal Cornu Ammonis 3(dCA3) by prior PA. In this region, PA + UCMS showed similar activity as the groups not subjected to chronic stress. Therefore, PA can prevent the harmful effects of chronic stress on dCA3.

体力活动（PA）对于身心健康非常有益。本研究旨在探讨 PA 对暴露于不可预测的慢性轻度应激 (UCMS) 的成年雄性 Wistar 大鼠的恢复力诱导作用。此外，我们利用细胞色素c氧化酶技术分析了PA对行为任务和功能性大脑连接的影响。细胞色素c氧化酶 (CCO) 是一种参与氧化磷酸化和 ATP 生成的线粒体酶。对于此分析，我们包括五组：Basal（n  = 10，确定大脑活动的基础水平）、Behav（ n  = 15，仅接受行为测试）、PA（n = 10，进行体力活动）、 UCMS（ n  = 15，接受应激方案）和 PA + UCMS（n = 15，在应激前暴露于 PA）。UCMS 方案包括在连续四个星期内随机呈现几种不同的压力源。我们评估了Behav、UCMS 和 PA + UCMS 组的几种行为。该评估包括使用蔗糖消耗任务的享乐反应、零迷宫的无条件焦虑以及使用猫气味测试评估的应对策略。与其他组相比，UCMS 组表现出快感缺失和焦虑增加。虽然在猫气味暴露测试中，PA+UCMS与其他组在猫气味隔间中停留的时间相同，但它并没有接近气味，表明它检测到了风险。该响应比 UCMS 和 Behav 组的响应更具适应性。对大脑连接的探索性分析显示，与其他组相比，UCMS 组的 CCO 活性有所增加。先前的 PA 减少了背侧 Cornu Ammonis 3 (dCA3) 的过度活动。在该区域，PA + UCMS 显示出与未遭受慢性应激的组相似的活性。因此，PA可以预防慢性应激对dCA3的有害影响。