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Exercise interventions preserve hippocampal volume: A meta-analysis
Wilckens KA, Stillman CM, Waiwood AM, Kang C, Leckie RL, Peven JC, Foust JE, Fraundorf SH et al.. Hippocampus, 2020-12-14
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Hippocampal volume is a marker of brain health and is reduced with aging and neurological disease. Exercise may be effective at increasing and preserving hippocampal volume, potentially serving as a treatment for conditions associated with hippocampal atrophy (e.g., dementia). This meta-analysis aimed to identify whether exercise training has a positive effect on hippocampal volume and how population characteristics and exercise parameters moderate this effect. Studies met the following criteria: (a) controlled trials; (b) interventions of physical exercise; (c) included at least one time-point of hippocampal volume data before the intervention and one after; (d) assessed hippocampal volume using either manual or automated segmentation algorithms. Animal studies, voxel-based morphometry analyses, and multi-modal interventions (e.g., cognitive training or meditation) were excluded. The primary analysis in n = 23 interventions from 22 published studies revealed a significant positive effect of exercise on total hippocampal volume. The overall effect was significant in older samples (65 years of age or older) and in interventions that lasted over 24 weeks and had less than 150 min per week of exercise. These findings suggest that moderate amounts of exercise for interventions greater than 6 months have a positive effect on hippocampal volume including in older populations vulnerable to hippocampal atrophy.
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APA 7th
Wilckens, K. A., Stillman, C. M., Waiwood, A. M., Kang, C., Leckie, R. L., Peven, J. C., et al. (2021). Exercise interventions preserve hippocampal volume: A meta-analysis. Hippocampus. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.23292
Vancouver
Wilckens KA, Stillman CM, Waiwood AM, Kang C, Leckie RL, Peven JC, et al. Exercise interventions preserve hippocampal volume: A meta-analysis. Hippocampus. 2021. doi:10.1002/hipo.23292. PMID: 33315276.
BibTeX
@article{wilckens2021-33315276,
author = {Wilckens, K. A. and Stillman, C. M. and Waiwood, A. M. and Kang, C. and Leckie, R. L. and Peven, J. C. and Foust, J. E. and Fraundorf, S. H. and others},
title = {{Exercise interventions preserve hippocampal volume: A meta-analysis}},
journal = {Hippocampus},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1002/hipo.23292},
pmid = {33315276},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.23292}
}
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Key findings
- Exercise may be effective at increasing and preserving hippocampal volume, potentially serving as a treatment for conditions associated with hippocampal atrophy (e.g., dementia).
- The primary analysis in n = 23 interventions from 22 published studies revealed a significant positive effect of exercise on total hippocampal volume.
- The overall effect was significant in older samples (65 years of age or older) and in interventions that lasted over 24 weeks and had less than 150 min per week of exercise.
- These findings suggest that moderate amounts of exercise for interventions greater than 6 months have a positive effect on hippocampal volume including in older populations vulnerable to hippocampal atrophy.
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Study details
- Study designmeta-analysis
- Participants23
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 74/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. Scored zero for effect reported 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 and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 43 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 74 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Hippocampus) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A meta-analysis pooling many studies |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 23 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| 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 33315276) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 43 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 43 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 74 out of 100. |
| Total | 74 / 100 | — |
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