ReviewBrain sciences2021
Bidirectional Association between Physical Activity and Dopamine Across Adulthood-A Systematic Review.
Review in Brain sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 3 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
56 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of Acute and Chronic Physical Exercise on Esports Performance: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine - open · 2026Pooled it
- Physical activity and two-year change in adolescent well-being in nine countries.Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · 2025Pooled it
- How to Tackle Mental Fatigue: A Systematic Review of Potential Countermeasures and Their Underlying Mechanisms.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and mirror therapy on mental health and dopamine level among spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy children.BMC pediatrics · 2025Trial
- The Motor Engram of Functional Connectivity Generated by Acute Whole-Body Dynamic Balance Training.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2022Trial
- Article
- Physical activity promotes clinical benefits beyond dopaminergic preservation in Parkinson's disease: a longitudinal analysis of the PPMI cohort.Neurological research and practice · 2026Article
- The relationship between physical activity levels and measures of cognition and disease severity in prodromal Parkinson's disease: A longitudinal study.BMC neurology · 2026Observational
- Task Failure in Endurance Sports: A Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- The combination of exercise and psychedelics for the treatment of major depressive disorder.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Impact of Physical Activity on Smoking, Sleep Disorders, and Depression Among U.S. Adults.Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education · 2026Article
- Training Load Oscillation and Epigenetic Plasticity: Molecular Pathways Connecting Energy Metabolism and Athletic Personality.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Effects of physical activity on externalizing problems in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: the chain mediating effects of school connectedness and self-control.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Physical activity and depressive symptoms among Chinese university students: Grit as a mediator.PloS one · 2026Article
- Development and validation of a risk prediction model for demoralization syndrome in patients with chronic heart failure.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Comparative Efficacy of Exercise Interventions for Anxiety Disorders: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.Psychology research and behavior management · 2026Review
- Physical exercise and social media addiction among adolescents: a chain mediation analysis of cognitive flexibility and negative attention bias.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Use and Dynamic Adjustment of Self-Control Strategies in Physical Activity Engagement Among Young and Middle-Aged Stroke Patients: A Qualitative Study.Patient preference and adherence · 2026Article
- Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Mental Health in University Students: A Compositional Isotemporal Substitution Analysis.Depression and anxiety · 2026Article
- The duality of the BBB: breaking the myth of the blood-brain barrier breakdown.Fluids and barriers of the CNS · 2025Review
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.
Funding
Abstract
Physical activity (PA) may influence the secretion of neurotransmitters and thereby have positive consequences for an individual's vulnerability (i.e., reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms). This systematic review aims to analyse the potential bidirectional effects of exercise on dopamine from young adulthood to old age. The article search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science in December 2020. The inclusion criteria were longitudinal and experimental study design; outcomes included dopamine and exercise; effect of exercise on dopamine and vice versa; adults; and articles published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Fifteen articles were included in the review. We observed robust findings concerning the potential effects of PA on dopamine, which notably seem to be observable across a wide range of participants characteristics (including age and sex), a variety of PA characteristics, and a broad set of methods to analyse dopamine. By contrast, regarding the potential effects of dopamine on PA, findings were mixed across studies. Thus, there are robust effects of physical exercise on dopamine. These findings further strengthen the idea that innovative approaches could include PA interventions for treating and preventing mental disorders. Therefore, it seems that PA is a potential alternative to deal with mental health issues.
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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.