ArticleNeuroImage2021
Midlife aerobic exercise and brain structural integrity: Associations with age and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Article in NeuroImage, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 2 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
33 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- The weekend warrior phenomenon: comparable mortality reduction to regular exercise with enhanced neuroprotective effects-a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Associations of cardiorespiratory fitness and exercise with brain white matter in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain imaging and behavior · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of aerobic exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness on white matter free water fraction in older adults: a 1-year randomized controlled trial.GeroScience · 2026Trial
- Long-Term Improvement in Hippocampal-Dependent Learning Ability in Healthy, Aged Individuals Following High Intensity Interval Training.Aging and disease · 2024Trial
- Aerobic exercise training and neurocognitive function in cognitively normal older adults: A one-year randomized controlled trial.Journal of internal medicine · 2022Trial
- Dynamic neurocognitive adaptation: childhood and adult-midlife engagement associated with later-life brain structure and cognition in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment.Brain imaging and behavior · 2026Article
- Multiscale Mechanisms of Exercise-Induced Neuroplasticity: From Molecular Pathways to Network Dynamics and Behavioral Adaptation.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Associations between incremental exercise capacity and multimodal brain characteristics across training levels.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Preliminary effects of a four-month circuit training intervention on cognitive function and exploratory plasma proteomic profiles in middle-aged and older women: an open-label randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Fitness and exercise effects on brain age: A randomized clinical trial.Journal of sport and health science · 2025Article
- Effects of Aging, Estimated Fitness, and Cerebrovascular Status on White Matter Microstructural Health.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
- Chain-mediated effect of physical activity between Chinese language-based L2 motivational self-system and intended effort.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Acute effects of different physical activity on executive function and regulation role of beta oscillation in sedentary youth frontal region.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Smartphone app for lifestyle improvement improves brain health and boosts the vitality and cognitive function of healthy middle-aged adults.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Temporal Interactions between Maintenance of Cerebral Cortex Thickness and Physical Activity from an Individual Person Micro-Longitudinal Perspective and Implications for Precision Medicine.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
- Maintaining a Dynamic Brain: A Review of Empirical Findings Describing the Roles of Exercise, Learning, and Environmental Enrichment in Neuroplasticity from 2017-2023.Brain plasticity (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Review
- Greater physical fitness (Vo2Max) in healthy older adults associated with increased integrity of the Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenergic system.Research square · 2023Article
- Physical fitness, cognition, and structural network efficiency of brain connections across the lifespan.Neuropsychologia · 2023Article
- Overview on brain function enhancement of Internet addicts through exercise intervention: Based on reward-execution-decision cycle.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Lower midlife physical activity is associated with higher risk of neurodegenerative disease in late life. However, it remains unknown whether physical exercise and fitness are associated with brain structural integrity during midlife. The purpose of this study was to compare brain structures between middle-aged aerobically trained adults (MA), middle-aged sedentary (MS), and young sedentary (YS) adults. Thirty MA (54±4 years), 30 MS (54±4 years), and 30 YS (32±6 years) participants (50% women) underwent measurements of brain volume, cortical thickness, and white matter (WM) fiber integrity using MRI. MA participants had aerobic training for 24.8±9.6 years and the highest cardiorespiratory fitness level (i.e., peak oxygen uptake: VO
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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.