BDNF and major depressive disorder: Qigong has been shown to alleviate the severity of psychological symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety) likely through modulations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis [73, 74], monoamine neurotransmitter (e.g., serotonin) [73], brain-derived neurotrophic factor [73], and adiponectin [46].