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.

中文翻译：

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运动干预保护海马体积：一项荟萃分析

海马体积是大脑健康的标志，随着年龄的增长和神经系统疾病而减少。运动可能有效增加和保持海马体积，有可能作为与海马萎缩相关疾病（例如痴呆）的治疗方法。这项荟萃分析旨在确定运动训练是否对海马体积有积极影响，以及人群特征和运动参数如何调节这种影响。研究符合以下标准： (a) 对照试验；(b) 体育锻炼的干预；(c) 包括干预前和干预后至少一个时间点的海马体积数据；(d) 使用手动或自动分割算法评估海马体积。动物研究、基于体素的形态测量分析和多模式干预（例如，认知训练或冥想）被排除在外。初步分析在来自 22 项已发表研究的n = 23 项干预措施揭示了运动对海马总体积的显着积极影响。在年龄较大的样本（65 岁或以上）和持续超过 24 周且每周运动少于 150 分钟的干预措施中，总体效果显着。这些研究结果表明，超过 6 个月的适度运动干预对海马体积有积极影响，包括易患海马萎缩的老年人群。