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Exercise and Brain Health: Expert Review
Cyrus Safaeipour, Dean Sherzai, Bashir Zikria. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 2026-01-09
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Preserving brain health is essential to maintaining quality of life and cognitive function with age. Exercise plays an essential role. Aerobic exercise such as running and cycling can enhance brain plasticity through increasing gray matter volume in the cerebellum and temporal lobe, as well as the density of connections in the brain's frontal and motor areas via upregulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and serotonin systems. Anaerobic exercise, such as weightlifting, primarily increases gray matter volume in the basal ganglia and increases the density of connections in the posterior lobe of the cerebellum. In midlife, aerobic exercise can increase white matter integrity and cortical thickness in primary motor and somatosensory areas, while in older age it improves specific markers of cognitive function, such as episodic memory. With regards to neurodegenerative diseases, aerobic exercise has been linked to improved memory performance and reduced hippocampal atrophy in Alzheimer's disease. In Parkinson disease, aerobic exercise has shown to reduce brain atrophy, improve motor function and cognitive control, while anaerobic exercise improves motor performance and information processing. Overall, both aerobic and anaerobic exercises are integral and complementary to preserving brain health through effects on cognitive function and brain structure.
Key findings
- Overall, both aerobic and anaerobic exercises are integral and complementary to preserving brain health through effects on cognitive function and brain structure.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 45/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 25 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 45 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (American journal of lifestyle medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41523152) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 25 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 25 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 45 out of 100. |
| Total | 45 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Safaeipour, C., Sherzai, D., & Zikria, B. (2026). Exercise and Brain Health: Expert Review. American journal of lifestyle medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276251415530
Vancouver
Safaeipour C, Sherzai D, Zikria B. Exercise and Brain Health: Expert Review. American journal of lifestyle medicine. 2026. doi:10.1177/15598276251415530. PMID: 41523152.
BibTeX
@article{safaeipour2026-41523152,
author = {Safaeipour, Cyrus and Sherzai, Dean and Zikria, Bashir},
title = {{Exercise and Brain Health: Expert Review}},
journal = {American journal of lifestyle medicine},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1177/15598276251415530},
pmid = {41523152},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276251415530}
}
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