ReviewMayo Clinic proceedings2011
Physical exercise as a preventive or disease-modifying treatment of dementia and brain aging.
Review in Mayo Clinic proceedings, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 358 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Acute Effects of Exercise on Memory in Healthy and Brain-Injured Individuals
Dementia - Early Detection and Intervention
The Effect of an Exergaming Intervention on Physical Activity and Sleep in People With Major Neurocognitive Disorders Living in Long-term Care Facilities: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
Arlington Longitudinal Optimal Healthy Aging Study (ALOHA)
Who cites it
358 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 857 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physiological influences on neurovascular coupling: A systematic review of multimodal imaging approaches and recommendations for future study designs.Experimental physiology · 2025Pooled it
- Optimal exercise interventions for enhancing cognitive function in older adults: a network meta-analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Optimal exercise temporal parameters of Traditional Chinese Exercises for cognitive function of older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- mHealth Apps for Dementia, Alzheimer Disease, and Other Neurocognitive Disorders: Systematic Search and Environmental Scan.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of physical exercise on white matter integrity and cognitive function in older adults.GeroScience · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of different aerobic exercises on the global cognitive function of the elderly with mild cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of exercise therapy on patients with poststroke cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Alzheimer's disease large-scale gene expression portrait identifies exercise as the top theoretical treatment.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Physical Exercise Interventions Targeting Cognitive Functioning and the Cognitive Domains in Nondementia Samples: A Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses.Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology · 2021Pooled it
- Exercise as a Useful Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Consumption and Improve Physical Fitness in Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Pooled it
- A Handful of Details to Ensure the Experimental Reproducibility on the FORCED Running Wheel in Rodents: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Pooled it
- Measuring the association of objective and perceived neighborhood environment with physical activity in older adults: challenges and implications from a systematic review.International journal of health geographics · 2020Pooled it
- A mixed methods systematic review of multimodal non-pharmacological interventions to improve cognition for people with dementia.Dementia (London, England) · 2020Pooled it
- Feasibility of superimposed supine cycling and lower body negative pressure as an effective means of prolonging exercise tolerance in individuals experiencing persisting post-concussive symptoms: Preliminary results.Experimental physiology · 2026Trial
- The Impact of Pandemic-Related Restrictions on Dementia Risk Factors in Older Adults.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2024Trial
- The effect of acute exercise on attentional control and theta power in young adults.Experimental brain research · 2023Trial
- Aerobic Exercise with Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay Diet Promotes Brain Cells' Longevity despite Sex Hormone Deficiency in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2022Trial
- Multiple bouts of high-intensity interval exercise reverse age-related functional connectivity disruptions without affecting motor learning in older adults.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Tai Chi exercise improves age-associated decline in cerebrovascular function: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2021Trial
- Effects of Two Physical Training Programs on the Cognitive Status of a Group of Older Adults in Chile.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
298 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A rapidly growing literature strongly suggests that exercise, specifically aerobic exercise, may attenuate cognitive impairment and reduce dementia risk. We used PubMed (keywords exercise and cognition) and manuscript bibliographies to examine the published evidence of a cognitive neuroprotective effect of exercise. Meta-analyses of prospective studies documented a significantly reduced risk of dementia associated with midlife exercise; similarly, midlife exercise significantly reduced later risks of mild cognitive impairment in several studies. Among patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) documented better cognitive scores after 6 to 12 months of exercise compared with sedentary controls. Meta-analyses of RCTs of aerobic exercise in healthy adults were also associated with significantly improved cognitive scores. One year of aerobic exercise in a large RCT of seniors was associated with significantly larger hippocampal volumes and better spatial memory; other RCTs in seniors documented attenuation of age-related gray matter volume loss with aerobic exercise. Cross-sectional studies similarly reported significantly larger hippocampal or gray matter volumes among physically fit seniors compared with unfit seniors. Brain cognitive networks studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging display improved connectivity after 6 to 12 months of exercise. Animal studies indicate that exercise facilitates neuroplasticity via a variety of biomechanisms, with improved learning outcomes. Induction of brain neurotrophic factors by exercise has been confirmed in multiple animal studies, with indirect evidence for this process in humans. Besides a brain neuroprotective effect, physical exercise may also attenuate cognitive decline via mitigation of cerebrovascular risk, including the contribution of small vessel disease to dementia. Exercise should not be overlooked as an important therapeutic strategy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.