Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38539583›Full record

ReviewBrain sciences2024

Effects and Mechanisms of Exercise on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Levels and Clinical Outcomes in People with Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Daan G M Kaagman, Erwin E H van Wegen, Natalie Cignetti, Emily Rothermel, Tim Vanbellingen, Mark A Hirsch

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Brain sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
10.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Effects of physical exercise on cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2026
    Review
  11. Disruption of BDNF signalling in neuropathologies.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Intensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation modulates serumFrontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Daan G M KaagmanFaculty of Behavioral and Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Erwin E H van WegenDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-7920-9995
Natalie CignettiDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Carolinas Medical Center, Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation, Charlotte, NC 28203, USA.
Emily RothermelDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Carolinas Medical Center, Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation, Charlotte, NC 28203, USA.
Tim VanbellingenGerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland.
Mark A HirschDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Carolinas Medical Center, Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation, Charlotte, NC 28203, USA.
Carolinas Medical Center · USAmsterdam Neuroscience · NLUniversity of Bern · CHVrije Universiteit Amsterdam · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionExercise therapy may increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and improve clinical outcomes in people living with Parkinson's disease (PD). This systematic review was performed to investigate the effect of exercise therapy on BDNF levels and clinical outcomes in human PD and to discuss mechanisms proposed by authors.

methodA search on the literature was performed on PubMed up to December 2023 using the following key words: Parkinson's disease AND exercise, exercise therapy, neurological rehabilitation AND brain-derived neurotrophic factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor/blood, brain-derived neurotrophic factor/cerebrospinal fluid AND randomized clinical trial, intervention study. Only randomized clinical trials comparing an exercise intervention to treatment as usual, usual care (UC), sham intervention, or no intervention were included.

resultsA meta-analysis of BDNF outcomes with pooled data from five trials (N = 216 participants) resulted in a significant standardized mean difference (SMD) of 1.20 [95% CI 0.53 to 1.87; Z = 3.52,

conclusionKey results of this systematic review are that exercise therapy is effective in raising serum BDNF levels and seems effective in alleviating PD motor symptoms. Exercise therapy confers neuroplastic effects on Parkinson brain, mediated, in part, by BDNF.

Indexed as

BDNFexerciseParkinson’s disease

Identifiers

PMID38539583
PMCPMC10968162
OpenAlexW4392004760

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.