Researchers: Feng-Tzu Chen, Rachel J Hopman, Chung-Ju Huang, Chien-Heng Chu, Charles H Hillman, Tsung-Min Hung, Yu-Kai Chang
Accumulating evidence suggests that exercise training is associated with improvements in brain health in older adults, yet the extant literature is insufficient in detailing why exercise training facilitates brain structure and function. Specifically, few studies have employed the FITT-VP principle (i.e., Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type, Volume, and Progression) to characterize the exercise exposure, thus research is yet to specify which characteristics of exercise training benefit brain outcomes. To determine whether exercise training is consequential to cognitive and brain outcomes, we conducted a systematic review investigating the effects of exercise training on brain structure and function in older adults. PubMed and Scopus were searched from inception to February 2020, and study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. A total of 24 randomized controlled trials were included. This systematic review indicates that older adults involved in exercise training may derive general benefits to brain health, as reflected by intervention-induced changes in brain structure and function. However, such benefits are dependent upon the dose of the exercise intervention. Importantly, current evidence remains limited for applied exercise prescriptions (e.g., volume, progression) and future research is needed to clarify the effects of exercise training on cognitive and brain outcomes in older adults.
References
- Exercise for Brain Health: An Investigation into the Underlying Mechanisms Guided by Dose.
- Aerobic Exercise Intervention, Cognitive Performance, and Brain Structure: Results from the Physical Influences on Brain in Aging (PHIBRA) Study.
- Does Aerobic Exercise Influence Intrinsic Brain Activity? An Aerobic Exercise Intervention among Healthy Old Adults.