Table 2.
Summary of controlled exercise program studies.
| References | Sample description and size (mean age) | Description of the method: type of intervention, duration of intervention, duration of session, frequency | CBF measurement | CF measurement | Statistically significant imaging results | Statistically significant cognitive results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cho and Roh (2019) | Older women 19 EXP (68.9); 18 CON (69) |
Taekwondo 16 weeks; 60 min 5 × /week |
Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography | MMSE; SCWT | No p < 0.05 results | SCWT test (p = 0.022) |
| Stringuetta Belik et al. (2018) | Haemodialysis patients 15 EXP (50.3); 15 CON (57.8) |
Aerobic training, cycle ergometer Four months; 30 min increasing toward 45 min; 3 × /week |
Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography | MMSE | Maximum cerebral arterial flow velocity per area (p = 0.002) | MMSE (p = 0.023) |
| Northey et al. (2019) | Female cancer survivors 17 (HIIT n = 6, MOD n = 5, CON n = 6) (62.9) |
HIIT or moderate training 12 weeks; 20–30 min; 3 × /week |
Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography | CogState battery, verbal learning, episodic memory, executive function, test working memory | No p < 0.05 results; a large-sized effect for HIIT in comparison to CON for resting MCAvmean | Episodic memory (moderate effects for both HIIT and MOD); executive function and working memory (HIIT group had large effects) in comparison to CON, between groups no significant differences |
| Moore et al. (2015) | Patients after stroke 20 EXP (68); 20 CON (70) |
Community exercise vs. stretching 19 weeks; 45–60 min; 3 × /week |
MRI | ACE-R | Elevated CBF in medial temporal lobe region | ACE-R (p < 0.01) |
| Shimizu et al. (2018) | Older adults 30 EXP; 9 CON 74.90 MMT, 73.33 STT |
Movement music therapy and single training task 12 weeks; 60 min in total; 1 × /week |
fNIRS | FAB test | Significantly higher activation between groups in Brodmann Area 10 | Significant improvement in FAB after MMT, no after STT; however, no significant difference between the groups |
| Castellano et al. (2017) | Patients with mild AD 10 EXP (73) |
Walking on a treadmill 12 weeks; Ph1 6 weeks 15–40 min (adding 5 min weekly); Ph2 40 min; 3 × /week |
PET-CT | 3MS; HVLT; Verbal Digit Span; SCWT; DSST | Significantly higher global glucose metabolism | Shorter completion time on the TMT Awas related to higher global CMRacac (p = 0.01); A tendency toward improvement on condition 2 (color naming) of the SCWT |
| Stanek et al. (2011) | Cardiac rehabilitation patients 51 EXP (67.75) [36 stress test subset (68.72), 42 CBF measurement (68.17)] | Phase II CR program up to 12 weeks; 60 min; 3 × /week |
Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography | 3MS; Attention-Executive-Psychomotor Trail Making Test A and B; Grooved Pegboard-dominant hand; FAB; Letter-Number Sequencing subtest of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III, Language- Boston Naming Test -Short form; Animal Naming | Significant change in ACA flow velocity (p = 0.03) in a subset of 42 individuals | Significant improvements: 3MS; Attention-Executive-Psychomotor (Letter-Number sequencing, Grooved Pegboard); HVLT (learning trial recall trial); Brief visuospatial memory test (learning trial, recall trial) |
| Guadagni et al. (2020) | Healthy low-active middle-aged and older adults 206 EXP (69.5 ± 6.4 years old) |
Controlled exercise program aerobic exercise 6 months; increased 20–40 min; 3 × /week |
Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography | Card Sorting Test, SCWT, SDMT, Buschke Selective Reminding Test, Medical College of Georgia Complex Figure, Verbal Fluency Test from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function system, Auditory Consonant Trigram Test | Resting baseline VP (p = 0.014); resting baseline CVCi (p = 0.005) determinations increased. A decrease in resting baseline CVRi was also found (t202 = 3.378, p = 0.001) | Positive changes before and after intervention in the executive functions/processing speed (p = 0.029), executive functions/concept formation (p = 0.02), verbal memory (p = 0.001), and fluency (p = 0.004) domains were observed. The figural memory domain showed a negative change (p < 0.001) |
| Lehmann et al. (2020) | 34 healthy, right-handed adults of either sex 15 EXP (23); 16 CON (23.5) |
Controlled exercise program cardiovascular exercise 2 weeks; 19 min; 3–4/week |
fMRI | Motor learning time | Significant between group difference in frontal brain areas | Group EXELEARN learned the DBT at a significantly higher rate compared with RESTLEARN, p = 0.025 |
EXP, experimental group; CON, control group; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; SCWT, Stroop Color and Word Test; MCAvmean, mean blood velocity in middle cerebral artery; ACE-R, Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination Revised; fNIRS, functional near-infrared spectroscopy; FAB, Frontal Assessment Battery; AD, Alzheimer's disease; DSST, digit symbol substitution test; CMRacac, cerebral metabolic rate of acetoacetone; ACA, anterior cerebral artery; MMT, music movement therapy; STT, standard training therapy; HIIT, high-intensity interval training; MOD, moderate intensity exercise group; CR, Cardiac Rehabilitation; PET-CT, positron emission tomography; DBT, dynamic balancing; TMT, Trial Making Test; HVLT, Hopkins Verbal Learning Test; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging; 3MS, Modified Mini-Mental State.