Table 1.

Summary of representative exercise studies examining mitochondrial adaptations.

Study	Species	Exercise Type	Duration	Brain Region / Tissue	Mitochondrial Process Examined	Main Findings
Steiner et al., 2011 (Steiner et al., 2011)	Mouse	Treadmill running + high fat det	Chronic (8 weeks)	Hippocampus, cortex, hypothalamus	Biogenesis	↑ PGC-1α, SIRT1, CS expression ↑ mtDNA
Ruegsegger et al., 2019 (Ruegsegger et al., 2019)	Mouse	Treadmill running + high fat det	Chronic (10 weeks)	Hippocampus	Function, fission and oxidative stress	↑ CS, COX, SOD2, CAT activity ↑ mtDNA ↓ DRP1 activation
Yan et al., 2019 (Yan et al., 2019)	APP/PS1 mouse	Treadmill running	Chronic (12 weeks)	Hippocampus	Dynamics	↓ DRP1, MFF and ↑ MFN1/2, OPA1 expression improved mitochondrial morphology
Zhao et al., 2020 (Zhao et al., 2020)	APP/PS1 mouse	Treadmill running	Chronic (12 weeks)	Hippocampus	Mitophagy	↓ p62, PINK1 ↑ LC3II, Parkin
Luo et al., 2017 (Luo et al., 2017)	Rat	Swimming	Chronic (10 weeks)	Hippocampus	Biogenesis, function, mitophagy	↑ PGC-1α expression ↑ mtDNA ↑ Complex I and IV activity ↑ LC3II / LC3I, p62, parkin expression
Koo & Kang, 2019 (Koo and Kang, 2019)	Rat	Treadmill running + high fat diet	Chronic (8 weeks)	Hippocampus	Oxidative stress	↓ gp91phox and ↑ catalase, SOD2 expression
Hu et al., 2021 (Hu et al., 2021)	Mouse	HIIT	Chronic (8 weeks)	Hippocampus	Function, dynamics	↑ ATP level ↑ PGC-1α, NRF2 expression ↑ MFN1/2. Opa1 and ↓ DRP1, FIS expression
Dos Santos et al., 2020 (Dos Santos et al., 2020)	Mouse	HIIT	Acute/short-term (1 week)	Hippocampus	Mitochondrial content	↑ VDAC expression
Robinson et al., 2018 (Robinson et al., 2018)	Human	HIIT	Chronic (12 weeks)	Whole brain (FDG-PET)	Metabolism	↑ glucose uptake in AD-related regions