Treatment Effect of Exercise Intervention for Female College Students with Depression: Analysis of Electroencephalogram Microstates and Power Spectrum

This paper aims to assess the effect of exercise intervention on the improvement of college students with depression and to explore the change characteristics of microstates and the power spectrum in their resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG). Forty female college students with moderate depression were screened according to the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Depression Self-Rating Scale (SDS) scores, and half of them received an exercise intervention for 18 weeks. The study utilized an EEG to define the resting-state networks, and the scores of all the participants were tracked during the intervention. Compared with those in the depression group, the power spectrum values in the θ and α bands were significantly decreased ( p < 0.05), and the duration of microstate C increased significantly ( p < 0.05), while the frequency of microstate B decreased significantly ( p < 0.05) in the exercise intervention group. The transition probabilities showed that the exercise intervention group had a higher probability from B to D than those in the depression group ( p < 0.01). In addition, the power of the δ and α bands were negatively correlated with the occurrence of microstate C ( r = −0.842, p < 0.05 and r = −0.885, p < 0.01, respectively), and the power of the β band was positively correlated with the duration of microstate C ( r = 0.900, p < 0.01) after exercise intervention. Our results suggest that the decreased duration of microstate C and the increased α power in depressed students are associated with reduced cognitive ability, emotional stability, and brain activity. Depression symptoms were notably improved after exercise intervention, thus providing a more scientific index for the research, rehabilitation mechanisms, and treatment of depression.