Table 2.

Structural and functional effects of PE.

Evidences of PE increasing brain functioning
Animal studies	Human studies
Neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, gliogenesis (hippocampus, neocortex) [1] Angiogenesis (hippocampus, neocortex, cerebellum) [2] Modulation in neurotransmission systems (e.g., serotonin, noradrenalin, acetylcholine) [3] Increased neurotrophic factors (e.g., BDNF, IGF-1) [4] Improvements of spatial memory performances [5] Transgenerational effects of maternal motor exercise [6]	Increased gray matter volume in frontal and hippocampal regions [7] Increased levels of neurotrophic factors (e.g., peripheral BDNF) [8] Increased blood flow [9] Increasing in academic achievement (especially children) [10] Improvements in cognitive abilities (learning and memory, attentional processes and executive processes) [11] Prevention of cognitive decline and reduced risk of developing dementia (especially in the elderly) [12] Modified network topology [13]

^[1]van Praag et al., 1999a,b; Brown et al., 2003; Ehninger and Kempermann, 2003; Steiner et al., 2004; Hirase and Shinohara, 2014;

^[2]Black et al., 1990; Isaacs et al., 1992; Kleim et al., 2002; Swain et al., 2003; Ekstrand et al., 2008; Gelfo et al., 2018;

^[3]Lista and Sorrentino, 2010; Lin and Kuo, 2013;

^[4]Vaynman et al., 2004; van Praag, 2009; Lafenetre et al., 2011; Coelho et al., 2013;

^[5]van Praag et al., 2005; Nithianantharajah and Hannan, 2006; Langdon and Corbett, 2012; Snigdha et al., 2014;

^[6]Akhavan et al., 2008; Aksu et al., 2012; Robinson et al., 2012;

^[7]Colcombe et al., 2006; Erickson et al., 2011; Chaddock-Heyman et al., 2014;

^[8]Brunoni et al., 2008; Coelho et al., 2013; Hötting et al., 2016;

^[9]Weinberg and Gould, 2015; Cabral et al., 2017; Fernandes et al., 2017;

^[10]Sibley and Etnier, 2003; Voss et al., 2011; Lees and Hopkins, 2013; Donnelly et al., 2016;

^[11]Kramer et al., 1999; Colcombe and Kramer, 2003; Grego et al., 2005; Pereira et al., 2007; Winter et al., 2007; Lista and Sorrentino, 2010; Chieffi et al., 2017; Fernandes et al., 2017;

^[12]Colberg et al., 2008; Yaffe et al., 2009; Hötting and Röder, 2013; Niemann et al., 2014; Hollamby et al., 2017; Mandolesi et al., 2017;

^[13]Deeny et al., 2008; Douw et al., 2014; Huang et al., 2016.