Effects of Exercise on Parkinson’s Disease: A Meta-Analysis of Brain Imaging Studies

BACKGROUND: Exercise is increasingly recognized as a key component of Parkinson’s disease (PD) treatment strategies, but the underlying mechanism of how exercise affects PD is not yet fully understood. OBJECTIVE: The activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method is used to study the mechanism of exercise affecting PD, providing a theoretical basis for studying exercise and PD, and promoting the health of patients with PD. METHODS: Relevant keywords were searched on the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases. Seven articles were finally included according to the screening criteria, with a total sample size of 97 individuals. Using the GingerALE 3.0.2 software, an ALE meta-analysis was performed using seven studies that met the requirements, and the probability of the cross-experiment activation of each voxel was calculated. RESULTS: The meta-analysis produced seven clusters, and major activations were found in the cerebellum, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, and frontal lobe brain regions. CONCLUSION: Exercise for PD mainly results in the enhanced activation of the cerebellum, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, and frontal lobe. Exercise for PD does not cause a change in the activation of a single brain area, and the observed improvement may result from coordinated changes in multiple brain areas.