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Literature Review: Effects of exercise on the human brain
Louisiana Christian University
David McKemy
Juan Cardona
PY422A-Introduction to Research & Writing
October 19, 2022
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Most of the psychological, mental, and brain research have been focused on different
theories and practices, that are then applied in a therapy or counseling session. In other words,
most psychological approaches are, in a way, passive. Passive in the way that the person going
through the process rarely is asked to move or do anything physical. All the work is mental,
either cognitive or emotional, or both. In a way, that used to make sense in the past because we
used to separate the mind and the body. The treatments for psychological and physical illnesses
were completely separate and were not considered to affect each other at all. However, in the
past decades and years, scientists had discovered the huge effects that the mind can have on the
body, and the body can have on the mind. They are interrelated, and what benefits one may end
up benefiting the other. This is the case for exercise and brain health and function. There are
more and more data and research available on the huge benefits that exercise has on the brain,
Exercise in general, including different types of exercises, has been shown to prevent, reduce,
and sometimes even recover people from different mental disorders such as Parkinson's disease,
chronic stress, thyroid disorders, sleep deprivation, and multiple sclerosis (Alkadhi, 2017).
Despite most research supporting the beneficial role of exercise on the brain, there is still much
research to be done to have a whole picture of all the possible benefits or even some possible
detriments, “Although the beneficial effects of exercise to the health and function of the brain
have been accepted by the scientific and medical community, much remains to be achieved to
understand its mechanisms of action” (Ang, 2007, p.1). Thus, with the current information, it is
clear how exercising is one of the most potent tools to improve brain and mental health.
However, there is some research indicating that in specific circumstances, and when taken to an
extreme, exercise can be detrimental to the brain and mental health.
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One thing that has been researched the most is exercise’s role in the improvement and
even recovery of different illnesses and diseases such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and
Alzheimer’s disease among others (Alkadhi, 2017). These types of diseases and illnesses are
commonly treated with pills and prescribed drugs and medications. However, with the new
findings on the effects of exercise on these types of illnesses, now many people are changing
their approach. For instance, there is a negative correlation between Alzheimer's disease and
energy expenditure and the number of physical activities that people perform (Kramer, 2006). In
other words, the more exercise activity and energy expenditure people do, the less likely they are
to have Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, regarding dementia, it was found that physical activity,
has a negative correlation with subjects that have been diagnosed with dementias at initial
assessment (Kramer, 2006). Additionally, when the authors looked at several studies in the
scientific literature, they concluded that “the studies reviewed above suggest a significant, and
sometimes substantial, relationship between physical activity and later cognitive function and
dementia” (Kramer, 2006, p.2). Furthermore, exercise has been correlated with improvements in
other illnesses like multiple sclerosis. For instance, there is a study that assessed the effects of
exercise on this very terrible neurodegenerative condition called multiple sclerosis. According to
the study, exercise therapies and exercise activity is a promising nonpharmacological therapy in
people with multiple sclerosis (MS) (Dalgas, 2017). It is worth stressing, however, that exerciseinduced training has also been shown to possibly induce a worsening of the symptoms of
multiple sclerosis (Dalgas, 2017). This might have been in cases in which the exercise stimulus
was too harsh for the people doing it, or simply normal stress symptoms that people experience
when exercising if they have not been doing it regularly. This detrimental effect is very minor
nevertheless, according to the author. Even tough exercise training and activity may induce a
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temporary worsening of symptoms in some multiple sclerosis patients, it is considered safe
(when no taken into an extreme and does not increase the risk of relapses” (Dalgas, 2017).
Furthermore, despite exercise-induced training being a potent tool for the improvement of people
with multiple sclerosis it should never be the only type of therapy or treatment that people in this
condition takes. According to the author, “Exercise training can lead to clinically very significant
improvements in physical function but should be considered just a complementary help to
specific task-based training” (Dalgas, 2017). Thus, exercise is just another tool in the toolkit for
the treatment of multiple sclerosis, not the only one. Finally, in this same study, it was shown
that exercise training not only helped people with multiple sclerosis to improve their condition
but also exercise training-induced improvements on the brain and cognition, “Exercise has also
shown positive effects on the brain, including improvements in brain volume and cognition”
(Dalgas, 2017, p.1). Therefore, exercise not only can help people with different types of illnesses
such as multiple sclerosis and others but also can improve mental and cognitive conditions in
these people and also in people without any illness or condition of this type.
There is an article that assessed the effects of exercise on the brain and cognition at
different levels. The article examines the positive effects of aerobic physical activity on
cognition, emotional and brain function, at the molecular and cellular systems and behavioral
levels” (Hillman, 2008). So, this means that exercise not only improves brain and cognitive
function directly (at the molecular and cellular level) but also indirectly, changing and improving
people’s behavior in different situations that then ends up improving cognitive and brain function
(Hillman, 2008). For instance, exercise has been shown to improve the academic performance of
young teenagers in the classroom. This can be explained by the two different ways in which
exercise influences brain and mental health and performance. The first one is by improving
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teenagers’ behavior and attitude toward education and school. One explanation for this behavior
change is that when teenagers start doing exercise their body composition starts improving, and
they start feeling better about themselves and start having higher self-esteem. This overall
improvement in mood will then be reflected in their grades. According to the authors, one of the
major causes of obesity in the 21 century is the lack of physical activity, particularly among
children in the developed world. Exercise might not only help to improve their physical health
but might also improve their academic performance (Hillman, 2008). Thus, physical activity
influences people not only within their work or school environment but also several other areas
of their overall life, several studies support the idea that physical exercise is a lifestyle habit that
might lead to increased physical and mental health throughout life (Hillman, 2008). The second
mechanism by which exercise help students in their academic performance is by the effects at the
molecular and cellular level that directly improves the teenagers’ cognitive and mental skills,
thus improving their cognitive and mental performance, and thus improving academic
performance. There is a study showing what are some of the specific mechanisms by which
exercise influences these changes in the brain, in young children with disabilities, and animals
(Ploughman, 2008). According to the authors, “Neurotrophins, endogenous proteins that act as a
support to brain plasticity are the ones that mediate the beneficial effects of exercise on the brain.
Furthermore, exercise activity increases brain volume in areas implicated in executive
processing, improves cognition, like the prefrontal cortex, in children with cerebral palsy, and
enhances phonemic skill in school children with reading difficulty” (Ploughman, 2008). It is
important to stress, however, that depending on the level of intensity of the exercise the effects
will be beneficial or not. Several studies examining the intensity of exercise required to optimize
neurotrophins suggest that moderate exercise activities are the ones with the most benefit for the
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brain. Sustained increases in neurotrophin levels occur with prolonged but low-intensity
exercise, while higher intensity exercise, in a rat model of brain injury, elevates the stress
hormone, corticosterone. This is thought to halt the benefits of low-intensity exercises
(Ploughman, 2008). In other words, for exercise to have its beneficial effects, it must be done in
moderation, very extreme and intense bouts of exercise might increase cortisol in people and
may end up having a detrimental effect (Ploughman, 2008). This is what has been seen in animal
experiments at least. There was no beneficial effect of cardiovascular activity on children with
disabilities because they were not able to perform these types of exercise bouts, youth with a
physical disability may not benefit from the effects of exercise on cardiovascular fitness and
brain health since they are less active than their non-disabled peers(Ploughman, 2008). However,
this does not mean that they should not exercise in any other form. They still will benefit from
other types of exercise that fit their needs and capabilities. This is very important since the
benefits that exercise can bring to the mental and brain health of young populations are huge,
especially for young people with disabilities. Clearly, moderate physical activity is important for
youth whose brains are highly plastic and perhaps even more critical for young people with
physical disabilities (Ploughman, 2008). It is very important to protect and enhance mental and
brain health in the younger populations because their brain is still in development, so it is at this
stage that they and the adults in charge of them, need to take this very seriously. However, this
does not mean that older people will not benefit from exercise or that they should not give
importance to their brain health.
Earlier it was shown how exercise can help in the treatment and recovery of
neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis among others.
Additionally, exercise can have several benefits for older people without any of these conditions,
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improving their brain’s cognitive function, and physical activity can have a neuroprotective
effect on later life cognition (Kramer, 2006). There is a paper with a meta-analysis analyzing the
scientific literature from 1966 to 2006 regarding the effects of exercise in non-demented older
adults (Kramer, 2006). This is very interesting and valuable because this paper not only shows
the results of one particular study but shows the results of all the studies made from 1966 to 2006
assessing the effects of exercise in mentally healthy old people (Kramer, 2006). Research
reviewed in this paper highlights the positive effects that exercise has on the aging brain in
clinical populations, nonpathological populations, and nonhuman animals (Kramer, 2006).
Moreover, It was shown how among all the cognitive traits, the ones that showed the best
improvement of all was the executive control processes (Kramer, 2006). These processes,
according to the authors, are processes that include components of cognition such as planning,
scheduling, working memory, inhibitory processes, and multitasking (Kramer, 2006). The
authors make two very interesting and important observations. The first one is that all these
executive control processes are the ones that decline as people get older, these are many of the
processes that show a substantial age-related decline (Kramer, 2006). This suggests that many of
the conditions people attribute to aging can be mitigated and/or reduced with exercise (Kramer,
2006). For instance, there is a paper that assessed the relationships between physical activity and
exercise and the brain and cognition throughout the life span in non-pathological populations
(Voss, 1985). According to the authors, despite most of the scientific literature on the effects of
exercise on the brain having been done in younger populations, there is growing evidence of the
huge benefits that exercise can have in older populations as well, whereas research has focused
primarily on the benefits of aerobic exercise in youth and young adult populations, there is
growing evidence that both aerobic and resistance training are important for maintaining
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cognitive and brain health in old age (Voss, 1985). Moreover, there is a meta-analysis reviewing
studies supporting the notion that physical activity and exercise can help alleviate the negative
impact of age on the body and the mind abound (Bherer, 2013). This metanalysis provides an
overview of important findings in this fast-growing research domain. Results from crosssectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies with healthy older adults, frail patients, and
persons suffering from mild cognitive impairment and dementia are reviewed and discussed.”
(Bherer, 2013). In other words, this metanalysis reviews the most important findings regarding
the effects of exercise on aged-related processes and factors, and how it can improve and
preserve cognitive condition and function. (Bherer, 2013). Together these findings suggest that
physical exercise is a promising nonpharmaceutical intervention to prevent age-related cognitive
decline and neurodegenerative diseases (Bherer, 2013). Furthermore, another paper found
improvements in aging-related factors of exercises related to specific brain regions
improvements. Evidence indicates that physical and mental activity influence the aging process.
Human data show that executive functions of the type associated with frontal lobe and
hippocampal regions of the brain may be selectively maintained or enhanced in humans with
higher levels of fitness (Churchill, 2002). These improvements are not only seen in the persons’
overall brain and health well-being, but in improvements on specific brain regions, recent results
have implicated neurogenesis, at least in the hippocampus, as a component of the brain response
to exercise, with learning enhancing the survival of these neurons (Churchill, 2002). For
instance, there is a study that attempts to assess these specific changes in different brain regions,
that review murine evidence about the effects of exercise on discrete brain regions involved in
important CNS functions (Morgan, 2015). They found evidence of multiple regional adaptations
to both forced and voluntary exercise. Exercise can induce molecular adaptations in neuronal
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function in many instances” (Morgan, 2015). Furthermore, the study also attempted to assess
exercise effects on other major central nervous system functions and factors such as the circadian
rhythm, central metabolism, cardiovascular function, stress responses in the brain stem and
hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and movement (Morgan, 2015). Despite the changes and influences
that exercise has on these functions might be beneficial, more research is needed to draw reliable
conclusions, evidence suggests exercise may benefit these conditions, the neurobiological
mechanisms of exercise in specific brain regions involved in these important CNS functions have
yet to be clarified (Morgan, 2015). However, the authors conclude that this area of research,
attempting to understand exercise effects on the molecular, and cellular, but also the functional
and general effects on the central nervous system is very promising, these findings suggest that
the regional physiological adaptations that occur with exercise could constitute a promising field
for elucidating molecular and cellular mechanisms of recovery in psychiatric and neurological
health conditions” (Morgan, 2015).
Moreover, the second observation they did was that the beneficial effects of exercise
were larger when people combined aerobic training, strength, training, and flexibility training,
effects of fitness training were larger when programs of aerobic training were combined with
strength and flexibility training. Combinations of different treatment protocols may engender
both more varied brain changes and serve to further reduce age-associated cardiovascular and
muscular skeletal disorders (Kramer, 2006). Thus, despite there are benefits of doing any type of
exercise, the benefits multiply and increase when different types of exercises and disciplines are
combined. These improvements in cognition and executive control processes are incredible.
However, exercise does not only help with the improvement of these cognitive processes but also
helps in the improvement of emotional control and behavior.
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Today, researchers know how emotions are not only vague and ambiguous concepts that
cannot be measured or assessed but emotions, in part, are produced by different neuro and
chemical interactions occurring within our brain (Meeusen, 1995). For instance, there is a
relationship observed between these neurotransmitters, and the perceived fatigue experienced by
individuals, there is a possibility that the interactions between brain neurotransmitters and their
specific receptors could play a role in the onset of fatigue during prolonged exercise (Meeusen,
2006). Thus, these neurotransmitters regulate our emotional response and perception of the
things happening internally and externally. There are some of these neurotransmitters are
correlated with feelings associated with pleasure, happiness, and reward, such as dopamine and
serotonin (Meeusen, 2006). Exercise is a crucial influence on the releasing of these
neurotransmitters, physical exercise influences the central dopaminergic, noradrenergic and
serotonergic systems (Meeusen, 2006). Additionally, research has found benefits of exercise not
only from the increase in the release of these neurotransmitters but practicing exercise has been
associated with better levels of resilience and recovery after an important and significant stressor
also (Bernstein, 2017). The study found that increases in rumination due to exposure to a stressor
were mitigated and decreased by a previous bout of acute aerobic exercise, “higher rumination in
response to the stressor predicted more persistent negative emotion afterward; this effect was
attenuated only by prior acute aerobic exercise, in this case, cycling, both 5 min, and 15 min post
stressor. This effect was unrelated to physical fitness or cognitive performance” (Bernstein,
2017, p1.) In other words, people that did acute aerobic exercise before being exposed to a
stressor showed fewer levels of rumination than people that did not exercise (Bernstein, 2017). It
is worth noting that these effects were not related to the individual’s fitness level. Meaning that
regardless of if it was a person who exercises regularly or a person that rarely exercises, these
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effects were the same (Bernstein, 2017). However, that does not mean that fitness levels and
exercise experience do not matter at all. This study also showed that physical fitness level did
predict greater attentional control and the capacity to update working memory (Bernstein, 2017)
Thus, despite the fitness level and experience did not enhance recovery and resilience after a
given stressor, it was correlated with better attentional control and memory capacity. This might
suggest that practicing exercise over the long term, will not only provide acute and short-term
benefits but long-term benefits as well. Furthermore, there is another study showing how
exercise can have an important role in improvements of levels of depression, especially for the
older populations, the benefits of exercise have been best defined for learning and memory,
protection from neurodegeneration and alleviation of depression, particularly in elderly
populations (Cotman, 2007). Therefore, it is clear how exercise has a huge and very important
role in emotional management and emotional recovery.
Additionally, exercise practice has not only been associated with a better emotional
recovery, as just viewed but also with better brain recovery after a brain stroke (Austin, 2014).
Aerobic exercise (AE) enhances neuroplasticity and improves functional outcome in animal
models of stroke, however, the optimal parameters (days post-stroke, intensity, mode, and
duration) to influence brain repair processes are not known (Austin, 2014). It is worth noting,
however, that the exact mechanisms by which exercise induces these benefits are still unknown.
Additionally, this study was made on animals, and its applicability and suitability for humans are
still discussed (Austin, 2014). Furthermore, there is another study examining the neuroplastic
effects of exercise after a traumatic brain injury (Griesbach, 2011). This study showed that
despite exercise having very important benefits to the brain and there is strong evidence
suggesting that it has a neuroprotective role in the brain, it can be detrimental for people that just
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experienced a traumatic brain injury, There is strong evidence that indicates that exercise has
neuroprotective effects by activating specific neuronal circuits and increasing molecules that
enhance synaptic plasticity. However, results of human and animal studies suggest that
premature postconcussive exercise may be deleterious by exacerbating postconcussive
symptomatology and disrupting restorative processes(Griesbach, 2011). In the same way,
exercise is correlated with improvements in different health biomarkers. For instance, there is
one study evaluating exercise effects on things like inflammation and other health-related
biomarkers (Cotman, 2007). Exercise reduces peripheral risk factors such as diabetes,
hypertension and cardiovascular disease, which converge to cause brain dysfunction and
neurodegeneration. A common mechanism underlying the central and peripheral effects of
exercise might be related to inflammation, which can impair growth factor signaling both
systemically and in the brain” (Cotman, 2007). Additionally, this study also shows that exercise
has several benefits on many other health-related factors and processes, not only inflammation,
exercise increases synaptic plasticity by directly affecting the synaptic structure and potentiating
synaptic strength, and by strengthening the underlying systems that support plasticity including
neurogenesis, metabolism and vascular function (Cotman, 2007). Another way in which
exercise can have a direct effect on overall health is through its effects on free radicals (Radak,
2007). Free radicals within the human body can cause a lot of oxidative stress which can be
detrimental to the individual’s health (Radak, 2007). It appears that exercise-induced modulation
of the redox state is an important means by which exercise benefits brain function, increases the
resistance against oxidative stress, and facilitates recovery from oxidative stress (Radak, 2007).
Furthermore, exercise played a huge role in the maintenance and improvements of mental and
physical health during the last covid pandemic. Despite many people were not able to do much
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exercise because they were forced to stay in their homes, the ones that practiced it took
advantage of several benefits of this practice. There is a paper that evaluates the possible
mechanism by which exercise may benefit people during the pandemic. They review the
molecular mechanisms of physical exercise in COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. They also
point links between exercise, mental, and cardiovascular health (De Sousa, 2021). There are
several mechanisms by which exercise can counteract the effects of the covid-19 virus.
According to the authors, both the virus and exercise elevate levels of an enzyme called ACE2.
The difference is that exercise elevates it through processes that enhance health and brain
function, while the virus elevates it through pathological processes that harm and damage the
body (De Sousa, 2021). Therefore, covid enhances ACE2 leading to inflammation and neuronal
death with possible development of mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Physical
exercise also enhances the ACE2 expression. However, physical exercise induces an
antiinflammatory and antifibrotic effect (De Sousa, 2021). Not only that but the authors also
found that exercise has effects on different biomarkers and biological pathways that increase
mental health in general, “physical exercise enhances the activity of several pathway leading to
neuronal survival and the maintenance of a good mental health (De Sousa, 2021)
Most of the research reviewed so far consists of the direct mechanical effects that
exercise has on the improvement and maintenance of brain health. However, exercise can have
also indirect effects on brain health. For instance, there is some evidence pointing out the effects
that the hormone testosterone can have on the brain and the neurons (Foecking, 2022).
Testosterone is one of the most important hormones in the human body, especially for men. This
hormone is released most of all in resistance training bouts or very intense aerobic training.
There is a study that attempted to see the effects of this hormone testosterone in the neurons.
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There is evidence that testosterone can have a very important role in the recovery of vestibular
function in the brain. This study has important clinical implications because it identifies
testosterone treatment as a viable therapeutic strategy for the long-term recovery of vestibular
function following TBI (Foecking, 2022). These findings are very interesting and very valuable,
however, there is something that needs to be clarified. The testosterone that participants had in
their system was not naturally synthesized in the body as a result of a resistance training or
aerobic training bout, it was administered synthetically. Therefore, more research is needed to be
able to make these results applicable to people that do not get that testosterone administered.
However, this is a very good and interesting starting point for further research on testosterone
and its role in mental and brain health.
So far, the benefits and the good part of effects of exercise on the brain have been
discussed. However, the detrimental or the possible detrimental effects of exercise on the brain
have not been discussed yet. It is important to stress the fact that there is no such evidence of
possible bad effects of exercise on the brain. There is way more evidence for the benefits that for
the detriments. With this being said, it’s been found that in some situations in which exercise is
not done properly or is taken to an extreme, it can have some detrimental effects on the brain and
body. There is a study evaluating the effects of exercise on female and male university athletes.
College and professional athletes always train very intensely because they are looking to be the
best ones in the discipline they are practicing. In many cases, this can be taken to an extreme and
make the training and the exercise detrimental to the athletes’ health and performance, highperformance university athletes experience frequent exertion, resulting in disrupted biological
homeostasis, but it is unclear to what extent brain physiology is affected (Churchill, 2021). This
suggests that despite not knowing the specific brain areas affected by overtraining, it is evident
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how overtraining can impair biological homeostasis in the brain and body (Churchill, 2021).
Therefore, according to the authors, after doing some brain scans in the athletes’ brains, they
show substantial but reversible neurophysiological changes due to season play in the absence of
overtraining symptoms, with effects that are sex-dependent but otherwise insensitive to
demographic variations (Churchill, 2021). This is one of the few cases in which exercise can end
up being bad and detrimental to the brain.
It is worth stressing however that this is a situation in which the individuals were
overtrained and without proper recovery. Most of the data and research indicate that exercise is
one of the best behavioral tools to improve brain functions and brain illnesses. Therefore, as long
as it is not taken to an extreme, and not practiced under specific risk conditions, doing exercise is
always going to be beneficial for the brain, at least that is what the research and data we have
today suggest.
In conclusion, exercise is one of the most powerful and beneficial tools any individual
can have in order to improve his or her brain’s cognitive and emotional functions. It has shown
incredible effects on the improvement and recovery of neurodegenerative diseases such as
dementia, Alzheimer’s, and multiple sclerosis among others. Additionally, it has been shown to
improve emotional recovery after an individual’s exposure to a great stressor. Moreover, it
improves cognitive skills and executive control skills. Especially for older adults, exercise has
these incredible effects, even improving many of the age-related factors that make people ill and
sick. Finally, its been also shown that exercise can be detrimental to the brain but just in some
specific situations and circumstances. These specific situations and circumstances have been
found to be two so far. In cases in which there are risk factors that do not make exercise
beneficial, such as post-surgery or pos brain trauma scenarios. The second scenario is in which
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people take exercise to an extreme causing elevated levels of stress or even overtraining. Besides
these two specific situations, everyone should practice some type or even several types of
exercise in order to improve and optimize brain health and functions.
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