Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23585869›Full record

ArticlePloS one2013

Can Taichi reshape the brain? A brain morphometry study.

Gao-Xia Wei, Ting Xu, Feng-Mei Fan, Hao-Ming Dong, Li-Li Jiang, Hui-Jie Li, Zhi Yang, Jing Luo, Xi-Nian Zuo

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
86citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

86 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  16. Neuroanatomical differences in early bilingual and monolingual children.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. The Science of Tai Chi andJournal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2025
    Review

26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Gao-Xia WeiKey Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Laboratory for Functional Connectome and Development, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Center, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Ting Xu
Feng-Mei Fan
Hao-Ming Dong
Li-Li Jiang
Hui-Jie Li
Zhi Yang
Jing Luo
Xi-Nian Zuo

Funding

CRCNS: Linking receptorarchitecture and functional brain networks across speciesR01MH139349 · NIMH · CHILD MIND INSTITUTE, INC. · PI Thomas Funck · 2024 to 2026
$516k
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH139349
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although research has provided abundant evidence for Taichi-induced improvements in psychological and physiological well-being, little is known about possible links to brain structure of Taichi practice. Using high-resolution MRI of 22 Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) practitioners and 18 controls matched for age, sex and education, we set out to examine the underlying anatomical correlates of long-term Taichi practice at two different levels of regional specificity. For this purpose, parcel-wise and vertex-wise analyses were employed to quantify the difference between TCC practitioners and the controls based on cortical surface reconstruction. We also adopted the Attention Network Test (ANT) to explore the effect of TCC on executive control. TCC practitioners, compared with controls, showed significantly thicker cortex in precentral gyrus, insula sulcus and middle frontal sulcus in the right hemisphere and superior temporal gyrus and medial occipito-temporal sulcus and lingual sulcus in the left hemisphere. Moreover, we found that thicker cortex in left medial occipito-temporal sulcus and lingual sulcus was associated with greater intensity of TCC practice. These findings indicate that long-term TCC practice could induce regional structural change and also suggest TCC might share similar patterns of neural correlates with meditation and aerobic exercise.

Indexed as

Tai JiBrain MappingCase-Control StudiesCerebral CortexExerciseFemaleHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMeditationMiddle AgedPsychological Tests

Identifiers

PMID23585869
PMCPMC3621760

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.