Exercise Intensity and Brain Plasticity: What’s the Difference of Brain Structural and Functional Plasticity Characteristics Between Elite Aerobic and Anaerobic Athletes?

Zhang, Keying; Jan, Yih‐Kuen; Liu, Yu; Ting, Zhao; Zhang, Lingtao; Liu, Ruidong; Liu, Jianxiu; Cao, Chunmei

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2022.757522

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…High levels of aerobic exercise have been associated with improved brain volume and factors of cognitive decline ( 26 , 27 ). Some studies have shown that aerobic exercise can boost brain plasticity ( 28 ), reduce hippocampal atrophy ( 29 ), and even increase the hippocampus ( 30 ). Physical exercise appears to affect brain atrophy positively in older adults with AD ( 31 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Function of Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial

et al. 2022

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This review aims to systematically review the effects of physical exercise on the cognitive performance of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its mechanisms of action. Databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched until December 2021. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the effect of an exercise intervention (compared with no exercise) on patients with AD. The measures included cognitive function [Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Alzheimer's Disease assessment scale-cognitive (ADAS-Cog), Montreal cognitive assessment scale (MoCA) and Executive Function (EF)]. The methodological quality of the included literature was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Twenty-two studies (n = 1647, mean age: 77.1 ± 6.3 years) were included in the systematic review, sixteen of which were included in the meta-analysis. A systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that physical exercise positively affects cognitive performance in older patients with AD. However, the positive effects of the intervention should be interpreted with caution considering the differences in methodological quality, type, frequency, and duration of exercise in the included studies. Future studies should consider the design rigor and specification of RCT protocols.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Function of Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial

et al. 2022

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“… 40 Consistent with our study, a previous study demonstrated exercise-induced neural plasticity changes in the posterior cerebellar lobules post-intervention. 41 Cerebellar brain inhibition by cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation significantly reduces pain intensity in patients with chronic pain. 42 Based on the reduced local rsFC in the bilateral posterior cerebellum after MCE in this study, we deduced that MCE might decrease the activity of the bilateral posterior cerebellum in patients with NCLBP.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alterations in functional connectivity in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain after motor control exercise: a randomized trial

ZHANG,

et al. 2024

Eur J Phys Rehabil Med

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BACKGROUND Motor control exercise (MCE) is effective in alleviating non-specific chronic low back pain (NCLBP). Neuro-imaging research is warranted to explore the underlying neural mechanisms of MCE. AIM We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to explore the central mechanism underpinning the effects of MCE in patients with NCLBP. DESIGN A randomized, single-blinded, controlled trial. SETTING The setting was out-patient and community. POPULATION Fifty-eight patients with NCLBP. METHODS Patients were randomized into the MCE or manual therapy (MT) group. All the participants completed pain-related clinical assessments and rs-fMRI scans before and after intervention. We performed exploratory whole-brain analyses in regional homogeneity (ReHo) and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) with significant post-pre differences in ReHo before and after intervention, and investigated associations between imaging and pain-related clinical assessments. RESULTS Compared with the MT group, a greater alleviation in pain intensity and disability was observed in the MCE group after intervention, and was sustained at the 6-month follow-up (P<0.001). Only the MCE group showed increased ReHo values in the right pre-central gyrus and decreased ReHo values in the bilateral posterior cerebellum (voxel level P<0.001, cluster-level FWE corrected P<0.05). Decreased rsFC of the right posterior cerebellum-left superior parietal gyrus and left insula were significantly positively associated with pain-related disability (voxel level P<0.001, cluster-level FWE corrected P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrated that MCE had superior effects in relieving pain and pain-related disability, which might be associated with its modulation of rsFC between the cerebellum and areas involved in sensory-discriminative processing of noxious and somato-sensory stimuli, affection, and cognition. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT This study provided preliminary evidence that MCE might alleviate NCLBP through its modulation of the function of brain areas related to chronic pain and postural control. Those results support MCE’s clinical application and help physiotherapists to provide better multidisciplinary interventions with the combination of MCE and other first-line treatments.

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“…The first limitation is that we only assessed endurance athletes. Brain activation modes respond to different intensities of physical aerobic and anaerobic activity (Zhang et al., 2022). Endurance athletes mainly perform aerobe exercise, and our findings are limited to aerobe exercise.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brains of endurance athletes differ in the association areas but not in the primary areas

Geisler,

de la Cruz,

Makris

et al. 2023

Psychophysiology

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Regular participation in sports results in a series of physiological adaptations. However, little is known about the brain adaptations to physical activity. Here we aimed to investigate whether young endurance athletes and non‐athletes differ in the gray and white matter of the brain and whether cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with these differences. We assessed the CRF, volumes of the gray and white matter of the brain using structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI), and brain white matter connections using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) in 20 young male endurance athletes and 21 healthy non‐athletes. While total brain volume was similar in both groups, the white matter volume was larger and the gray matter volume was smaller in the athletes compared to non‐athletes. The reduction of gray matter was located in the association areas of the brain that are specialized in processing of sensory stimuli. In the microstructure analysis, significant group differences were found only in the association tracts, for example, the inferior occipito‐frontal fascicle (IOFF) showing higher fractional anisotropy and lower radial diffusivity, indicating stronger myelination in this tract. Additionally, gray and white matter brain volumes, as well as association tracts correlated with CRF. No changes were observed in other brain areas or tracts. In summary, the brain signature of the endurance athlete is characterized by changes in the integration of sensory and motor information in the association areas.

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Exercise Intensity and Brain Plasticity: What’s the Difference of Brain Structural and Functional Plasticity Characteristics Between Elite Aerobic and Anaerobic Athletes?

Cited by 13 publications

References 43 publications

Effect of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Function of Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial

Effect of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Function of Alzheimer's Disease Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial

Alterations in functional connectivity in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain after motor control exercise: a randomized trial

Brains of endurance athletes differ in the association areas but not in the primary areas

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