Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25829377›Full record

Trial reportSchizophrenia bulletin2015

Physical Exercise Keeps the Brain Connected: Biking Increases White Matter Integrity in Patients With Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls.

Alena Svatkova, René C W Mandl, Thomas W Scheewe, Wiepke Cahn, René S Kahn, Hilleke E Hulshoff Pol

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Schizophrenia bulletin, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
60citing papers in PubMed, 8 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

60 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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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

6 authors.

Alena SvatkovaBrain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Multimodal and Functional Neuroimaging Research Group, Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
René C W MandlBrain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands;
Thomas W ScheeweBrain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands;
Wiepke CahnBrain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands;
René S KahnBrain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands;
Hilleke E Hulshoff PolBrain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; H.E.Hulshoff@umcutrecht.nl.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

It has been shown that learning a new skill leads to structural changes in the brain. However, it is unclear whether it is the acquisition or continuous practicing of the skill that causes this effect and whether brain connectivity of patients with schizophrenia can benefit from such practice. We examined the effect of 6 months exercise on a stationary bicycle on the brain in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Biking is an endemic skill in the Netherlands and thus offers an ideal situation to disentangle the effects of learning vs practice. The 33 participating patients with schizophrenia and 48 healthy individuals were assigned to either one of two conditions, ie, physical exercise or life-as-usual, balanced for diagnosis. Diffusion tensor imaging brain scans were made prior to and after intervention. We demonstrate that irrespective of diagnosis regular physical exercise of an overlearned skill, such as bicycling, significantly increases the integrity, especially of motor functioning related, white matter fiber tracts whereas life-as-usual leads to a decrease in fiber integrity. Our findings imply that exercise of an overlearned physical skill improves brain connectivity in patients and healthy individuals. This has important implications for understanding the effect of fitness programs on the brain in both healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia. Moreover, the outcome may even apply to the nonphysical realm.

Indexed as

AdultBicyclingDiffusion Tensor ImagingExercise TherapyFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleSchizophreniaTreatment OutcomeWhite MatterYoung Adultconnectivitydiffusion tensor imagingfractional anisotropylongitudinalphysical exerciseschizophrenia

Identifiers

PMID25829377
PMCPMC4466190

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.