. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Jun 1.

Published in final edited form as: Curr Behav Neurosci Rep. 2016 Apr 4;3(2):165–175. doi: 10.1007/s40473-016-0077-2

Table 1.

Experimental design and outcomes of studies assessing impact of aerobic exercise in schizophrenia from 2010 to 2015

Study	Participants			Exercise intervention^*	Control intervention	Assessment measures	Neurobiological outcomes	Neurocognitive/clinical outcomes
Study	SZE SZC		HCE	Exercise intervention^*	Control intervention	Assessment measures	Neurobiological outcomes	Neurocognitive/clinical outcomes
Pajonk et al. [64]	8	8	8	12 weeks, 3 sessions/week, 30 min/session Type: AE via cycling	12 weeks, 3 sessions/ week, 30 min/session Type: tabletop football	Physical: VO₂max Imaging: SMRI Cognitive: RAVLT, Corsi block-tapping test Clinical: PANSS	Intervention group: hippocampal volume increased by 12 % in SZE 16 % in HCE Control group: hippocampal volume decreased by 1 % in SZC	Intervention group: STM increased by 34 % in SZE, decreased by 17 % in HCE. PANSS scores decreased by 9 % in SZE Control group: STM decreased by 6 % in SZC. PANSS scores increased by 13 % in SZC
Scheewe et al. [69]	18	14	25/27 (HC)^**	6 months, 2 sessions/week, 60 min/ session Type: AE via cycling, rowing, crosstrainer (40 min) and 3 sets of muscle strength exercises, 10–15 repetitions/set (20 min)	6 months, 2 sessions/ week, 60 min/session Type: occupational therapy (SZC) and life as usual (HC)	Physical: VO₂max Imaging: SMRI Clinical: PANSS	Intervention group: no sig. changes in global brain volume, hippocampal volume, or cortical thickness in SZE or HCE Control group: no sig. changes in SZC or HC	No neurocognitive data Intervention group: PANSS scores decreased by 10.75 % in SZE Control group: no sig. changes in PANSS scores in SZC
Malchow et al. [72]	20	19	21	12 weeks, 3 sessions/week, 30 min/session Type: AE via cycling	12 weeks, 3 sessions/ week, 60 min/session Type: tabletop football	Imaging: SMRI and VBM Clinical: PANSS	Intervention group: no sig. increases in hippocampus or hippocampal substructure volumes in SZE and HCE. Increased gray matter volume of the left anterior temporal in SZE vs SZC (p < .05) only during intervention period; no sig. differences 3 months post-study Control group: during intervention, increase in gray matter volume in anterior cingulate cortex and motor cortex bilaterally (p < .05). Volume decrease in left hippocampus 3 months post-study (p = .001)	No neurocognitive data Intervention group: no sig. changes in PANSS scores in SZE Control group: no sig. changes in PANSS scores in SZC
Kuo et al. [75]	33	–	30	10 weeks, 5 sessions/week, 20–30 min/session and 1 session/ week, 60 min/session of group physical activity Type: house cleaning/slow walking (30 min) or faster walking/ cycling (20 min); group activity type not reported	None reported	Physical: weight, BMI, waist circumference Neurotrophins: serum BDNF	Intervention group: serum BDNF levels increased (p < .001); weight, BMI, waist circumference decreased (p < .001) Control group: none reported
Kim et al. [76]	22	12	–	12 weeks, 3 sessions/week, 60 min/session Type: combination of AE via moderate walking (25 min) and strength training (25 min)	12 weeks, 1 session/ week, 60 min/session Type: stretching, dancing, and recreational activity	Physical: weight, BMI, YMCA 3-min step test and other physical functioning tests Neurotrophins: serum BDNF	Intervention group: serum BDNF values increased (p = .007), and positively correlated with fitness (p = .035) Control Group: no changes.
Silva et al. [80]	19	13	–	20 weeks, 2 sessions/week, 60 min/session Type (two arms): Resistance training only Resistance (30 min) and AE on treadmill (25 min)	20 weeks, 2 sessions/ week, 60 min/session Type: same protocol as AE intervention but equipment kept at lowest setting	Physical: weight, BMI, VO₂max Neurotrophins: serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3, and BDNF Clinical: PANSS, CDSS, SF-36	Intervention group (1): no changes Intervention group (2): no changes Control group: no changes	No neurocognitive data Intervention group (1): PANSS scores decreased in SZE (p < .001); SF-36 physical role limitation scores improved (p = .011). No sig. changes in CDSS Intervention group (2): PANSS scores decreased in SZE (p = .003); SF-36 physical role limitation scores improved (p = .014). No sig. changes in CDSS Control group: no sig. changes
Kimhy et al. [82]	16	17	–	12 weeks, 3 sessions/week, 60 min/session Type: AE via Xbox active-play video games focused on whole-body exercises, treadmills, bicycle, and elliptical	Treatment as usual	Physical: VO₂max Cognitive: MCCB Neurotrophins: serum BDNF	Intervention group: serum BDNF increased by 11 %. BDNF change explained 14.6 % of variance in neurocognitive improvement Control group: serum BDNF increased by 1.9 % (group difference was not sig.)	Intervention group: improved neurocognition by 15.1 %. Aerobic fitness explained 25 % of variance in neurocognitive improvement. Control group: 2.0 % decline in neurocognitive performance
Oertel-Knöchel et al. [83]	8	21	–	4 weeks, 3 sessions/week, 45 min/ session Type: AE via boxing and circuit training	Two arms: 4 weeks, 3 sessions/ week, 45 min/session Type: relaxation training, including breathing and imagery exercises (N = 11) Waitlist (N = 10)	Cognitive: MCCB Clinical: PANSS, RHS		Intervention group: sig. improvement of performance in visual learning, working memory and processing speed, both compared to baseline and to control groups. Significant reduction of PANSS negative symptoms scores in SZE. No sig. change in RHS Control group (1): sig. reduction of PANSS negative symptoms scores in SZC Control group (2): no changes

AE aerobic exercise, SZE individuals with schizophrenia receiving exercise intervention, SZC individuals with schizophrenia receiving control intervention, HCE healthy individuals receiving exercise intervention, HC healthy individuals receiving control intervention, Sig significant, SMRI structural magnetic resonance imaging, RAVLT Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, PANSS the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, STM short-term memory, VBM voxel-based morphometry, BMI body mass index, BDNF brain-derived neurotrophic factor, IGF-1 insulin-like growth factor 1, IGFBP-3 insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3, CDSS Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia, SF-36 Short Form-36 Health Survey, MCCB MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, SAPS Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, SANS Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, BDI Beck Depression Inventory, BAI Beck Anxiety Inventory, STAI State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, RHS Revised Hallucination Scale

All exercise interventions were in addition to treatment as usual in individuals with schizophrenia

^**

In this study, 25 healthy participants participated in exercise intervention and 27 additional healthy participants were recruited as exercise controls and continued life as usual (HC)