Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41954831›Full record

ArticleGeroScience2026

Global executive function advantages in older adults with long-term habitual exercise are associated with resting-state functional reorganization.

Weikun Zhang, Geng Li, Gesi Teng, Mingzhu Ye, Zijin Liu, Yumin Liu, Antao Chen

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in GeroScience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors.

Weikun Zhang *Brain Health Institute, National Center for Mental Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, School of Medicine and School of Psychology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 600 Wanping South Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, 200030, China.
Geng Li *School of Psychology, Research Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Gesi TengSchool of Psychology, Research Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Mingzhu YeSchool of Psychology, Research Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Zijin LiuSchool of Psychology, Research Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Yumin LiuSchool of Psychology, Research Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Antao ChenBrain Health Institute, National Center for Mental Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, School of Medicine and School of Psychology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No. 600 Wanping South Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, 200030, China. antao.chen@sjtu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9321-681X

Funding

the National Natural Science Foundation of China 32171040the National Natural Science Foundation of China 32371105
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Normal aging is accompanied by declines in executive function, and regular physical exercise has been proposed as a protective factor. However, the neural correlates linking long-term habitual exercise to executive efficiency in older adults remain unclear. This study combined resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) with behavioral assessments to examine whether long-term habitual exercise is associated with executive performance and resting-state neural organization in older adults. A total of 105 older adults (52 long-term habitual exercisers and 53 non-habitual exercisers) completed task-switching, Stroop and N-back paradigms and underwent rs-fMRI scanning. Behavioral outcomes included accuracy, reaction time, task cost and executive efficiency index. Neural measures included amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo) and degree centrality (DC). Older adults with long-term habitual exercise showed higher accuracy and faster responses across tasks, with no group differences in task cost but higher executive efficiency, compared with non-habitual exercisers. They also exhibited higher ALFF, ReHo and DC in frontoparietal, motor and striatal regions, alongside lower resting-state metrics in occipito-cerebellar networks. Mediation models indicated that ALFF in the pallidum, DC in prefrontal and cingulate cortices, and ReHo in frontoparietal regions statistically accounted for the association between exercise status and executive efficiency. Long-term habitual exercise was associated with better executive performance and distinct resting-state functional organization in older adults. Frontoparietal and striatal systems emerged as candidate intrinsic correlates of executive efficiency in physically active older adults.

Indexed as

ALFFDegree centralityExecutive efficiencyHabitual exerciseReHoResting-state activity

Identifiers

PMID41954831

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.