Evidence mapPaperPMID 40964429Full record

ReviewFrontiers in psychiatry2025

Neurobiological mechanisms of the effect of exercise on depressive disorder: analysis using CiteSpace.

Haiying Yang, Jiayi Xu, Lei Hou, Dejian Huang

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

4 authors.

Haiying YangSchool of Physical Education, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Jiayi XuSchool of Physical Education, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Lei HouSchool of Physical Education, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Dejian HuangSchool of Physical Education, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Research on the neural mechanisms of exercise interventions for depressive disorder has evolved significantly over the past decade; however, there remains a lack of scientometric synthesis tracking these changes, including analyses of researcher networks and scientific productivity up to December 31, 2024. We searched the Web of Science Core Collection using specific search terms and conducted a comprehensive scientometric analysis to systematically examine the evolutionary pathways, collaborative networks, and core mechanisms in the relevant literature from 2006 to 2024. Our analysis included 170 core studies, and the co-cited reference network identified seven clusters with well-structured networks (Q=0.9299) and highly confident clustering (S=0.9794). Results revealed that exercise exerts antidepressant effects through modulation of neurotransmitter systems (e.g., 5-HT, GABA receptor subtypes), up-regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, and enhancement of hippocampal neuroplasticity. The research development was divided into three distinct phases: the early phase (2006-2014), which validated the effects of exercise on monoamine transmitters; the middle phase (2015-2019), which confirmed that aerobic exercise can produce effects comparable to pharmaceutical interventions; and the recent phase (post-2020), which has focused on gene-environment interactions and metabolism-neuraxis mechanisms. The collaborative network has expanded from the initial Swiss-German axis to a global level. Future research should integrate metabolomics and neuroimaging technologies to develop precise exercise prescriptions and optimize real-time intervention feedback using digital tools, thereby providing theoretical frameworks and translational pathways to enhance non-pharmaceutical intervention strategies.

Indexed as

BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor)depressive disorderexerciseneurobiological mechanismsscientometric analysis

Identifiers

PMID40964429
PMCPMC12436359

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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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.