ArticleJournal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD2017
Tai Chi Chuan and Baduanjin Increase Grey Matter Volume in Older Adults: A Brain Imaging Study.
Article in Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers, 8 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 133 citations in OpenAlex.
- The best approaches and doses of exercise for improving sleep quality: a network meta-analysis and dose-response relationship study.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Are Tai Chi and Qigong effective in the treatment of traumatic brain injury? A systematic review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Pooled it
- Mindfulness-based randomized controlled trials led to brain structural changes: an anatomical likelihood meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Mind-body therapies for older adults with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European geriatric medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Baduanjin exercise: A potential promising therapy toward osteoporosis.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of mind-body exercise on memory in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2021Pooled it
- Exercise interventions preserve hippocampal volume: A meta-analysis.Hippocampus · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of Multi-Modal Training in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Trial
- Efficacy of Daoyin combined with lower limb robot as a comprehensive rehabilitation intervention for stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2024Trial
- Tai chi improves psychoemotional state, cognition, and motor learning in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.Experimental gerontology · 2021Trial
- Qigong exercise enhances cognitive functions in the elderly via an interleukin-6-hippocampus pathway: A randomized active-controlled trial.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2021Trial
- Effect of 5 Years of Exercise Intervention at Different Intensities on Brain Structure in Older Adults from the General Population: A Generation 100 Substudy.Clinical interventions in aging · 2021Trial
- Mind-body exercise improves cognitive function and modulates the function and structure of the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex in patients with mild cognitive impairment.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2019Trial
- Predicting fall risk among older adults with sarcopenia in China using machine learning models: a six-year longitudinal study from CHARLS.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Tai Chi exercise and neuroplasticity: a narrative review according to neural mechanisms and clinical utilizations in brain health.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Body-mind exercise for cancer-related cognitive impairment in breast cancer patients: a network meta-analysis.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2025Article
- The Science of Tai Chi andJournal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2025Review
- Evaluation of the efficacy of Tai Chi on the cognitive function of patients with mild cognitive dysfunction and research on its mechanism.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- Neural mechanisms and social support for mental health in old age by martial arts exercise.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
6 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
17 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate and compare how 12-weeks of Tai Chi Chuan and Baduanjin exercise can modulate brain structure and memory function in older adults. Magnetic resonance imaging and memory function measurements (Wechsler Memory Scale-Chinese revised, WMS-CR) were applied at both the beginning and end of the study. Results showed that both Tai Chi Chuan and Baduanjin could significantly increase grey matter volume (GMV) in the insula, medial temporal lobe, and putamen after 12-weeks of exercise. No significant differences were observed in GMV between the Tai Chi Chuan and Baduanjin groups. We also found that compared to healthy controls, Tai Chi Chuan and Baduanjin significantly improved visual reproduction subscores on the WMS-CR. Baduanjin also improved mental control, recognition, touch, and comprehension memory subscores of the WMS-CR compared to the control group. Memory quotient and visual reproduction subscores were both associated with GMV increases in the putamen and hippocampus. Our results demonstrate the potential of Tai Chi Chuan and Baduanjin exercise for the prevention of memory deficits in older adults.
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.