Voluntary exercise in C57 mice is anxiolytic across several measures of anxiety.

Voluntary wheel running in rodents is associated with a number of adaptive behavioral and physiological effects including improved learning, reduction in stress-associated behaviors, neurogenesis, angiogenesis, increases in neurotrophic factors, and changes in several signaling molecules. Exercise has also been reported to reduce anxiety-like behaviors. However, other studies have failed to find an anxiolytic effect of exercise.