ReviewSports medicine and health science2020
Effects of meditation and mind-body exercise on brain-derived neurotrophic factor: A literature review of human experimental studies.
Review in Sports medicine and health science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of qigong exercise on post-stroke cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of traditional Chinese exercises or their integration with medical treatments on cognitive impairment: a network meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- The Optimal Type and Dose of Exercise for Elevating Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels in Patients With Depression: A Systematic Review With Pairwise, Network, and Dose-Response Meta-Analyses.Depression and anxiety · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Mind-body exercise as epigenetic modulators: Rewiring neural circuits for stress resilience and cognitive aging.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2026Review
- Serum BDNF Increase After 9-Month Contemplative Mental Training Is Associated With Decreased Cortisol Secretion and Increased Dentate Gyrus Volume: Evidence From a Randomized Clinical Trial.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Designing a meditation module to affect etiological and preventive factors in primary hypertensive patients-A pilot study.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Beyond the serotonin deficit hypothesis: communicating a neuroplasticity framework of major depressive disorder.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Review
- Research Progress on the Effects of Different Exercise Modes on the Secretion of Exerkines After Spinal Cord Injury.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2024Review
- Effects and neural mechanisms of different physical activity on major depressive disorder based on cerebral multimodality monitoring: a narrative review.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Review
- Ultra-overt therapy: a novel medical approach centered on patient consciousness.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2024Article
- Effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy vs. psychoeducational intervention on plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cognitive function in bipolar patients: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Article
- Stress and Mindfulness in Parkinson's Disease: Clinical Effects and Potential Underlying Mechanisms.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This paper provides a literature review of current studies investigating the effects of meditation and mind-body exercise on peripheral concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important mediator of the neuroplasticity of the central nervous system and cognitive function. A literature search was conducted to collect currently published randomized controlled, non-randomized controlled and uncontrolled intervention studies. Fifteen studies were identified; and among these studies, seven were randomized controlled studies, three were non-randomized studies, and five were uncontrolled studies. Current limited evidence tends to support that mindfulness meditation and mind-body exercise (e.g. yoga and tai chi) increase circulating BDNF concentrations in healthy and diseased individuals. It is noteworthy that these findings are based on current studies with a relatively small sample size, or without a randomized controlled design. Further studies are needed to identify a definite effect of meditation or mind-body exercise on BDNF and its role in improving/maintaining brain functions in various populations.
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.