The neuroscience of exercise is a growing research area that is dedicated to furthering our understanding of the effects that exercise has on mental health and athletic performance. The present study examined three specific topics: (1) the relationship between exercise and mental disorders (e.g. major depressive disorder, dementia and Parkinson's disease), (2) the effects of exercise on the mood and mental health of athletes, and (3) the possible neurobiological mechanisms that mediate the effects of exercise. Positive responses to regular physical exercise, such as enhanced functional capacity, increased autonomy and improved self-esteem, are frequently described in the recent literature, and these responses are all good reasons for recommending regular exercise. In addition, physical exercise may improve both mood and adherence to an exercise program in healthy individuals and might modulate both the performance and mental health of athletes. Exercise is associated with the increased synthesis and release of both neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors, and these increases may be associated with neurogenesis, angiogenesis and neuroplasticity. This review is a call-to-action that urges researchers to consider the importance of understanding the neuroscience of physical exercise and its contributions to sports science.

Background: Inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins increase with aging, promoting a chronic low-grade inflammation. Studies have shown a positive effect of exercise on inflammatory markers in older persons. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) are the main biomarkers investigated. However, it is unclear if exercise could decrease all these biomarkers. Purpose: The aim was to analyze the effect of chronic exercise on IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP levels in older persons. Methods: Preferred Reporting Items in Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines were adopted. Original articles that investigated the effect of chronic exercise on inflammatory profile of the elderly persons were eligible for this review. The databases PubMed, PEDro, EBSCO, and BioMed Central were searched. Three reviewers evaluated each publication for reducing bias. Data about IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP were collected and analyzed. A standardized mean difference based on estimated pooled effect size was calculated considering heterogeneity index (I²) and random effect. Results: Seventy-six studies were retrieved from databases, and 8 of them were analyzed. IL-6 and CRP levels decreased after chronic exercise (overall effect P < .05). Conclusion: Regular exercise decreases IL-6 and CRP levels in older persons. The effect of exercise on TNF-α remains unclear.

There is enough evidence that, nowadays, the sedentary lifestyle is one of the major health problems worldwide, linked to many chronic diseases, including mental comorbidities, systemic hypertension, metabolic dysregulation, and cancer. Although health societies recommend engagement to physical activities, there is an overwhelming number of people remaining sedentary, even knowing the health benefits of regular exercises. One of the main factors that justifies this scenario is the lack of motivation, which is a barrier to people intended to start new habits for health. Considering this previous information, new alternatives for exercises may help people engage in a healthier lifestyle. Technology has contributed to this with devices that allow movements based on virtual reality approaches, including the exergames. These are games available even in commercial devices, as video-games, that allow people to work with different physical components. Furthermore, exergames add cognitive gain through its dual-task characteristic. Moreover, due to the combination of these benefits, they are feasible to acquire, and easy to use. Exergames are not only a potential strategy to reduce sedentary lifestyle but also a good method to improve health gains and rehabilitation in different populations and pathological conditions: older adults, stroke survivors, and Parkinson’s disease. In this review, we aim to demonstrate some conditions that literature supports the intervention with exergames due to its physical and cognitive benefits. Furthermore, at the end of this review, we also explore the neurobiological mechanisms behind virtual-reality based exercises.

Exergames can be considered a dual task because the games are performed by a man-videogame interface, requiring cognitive and motor functions simultaneously. Although the literature has shown improvements of cognitive and physical functions due to exergames, the intrinsic mechanisms involved in these functional changes have still not been elucidated. The aims of the present study were (1) to demonstrate the known biological mechanisms of physical exercise regarding muscle adaptation and establish a relationship with exergames; and (2) to present a neurobiological hypothesis about the neuroplastic effects of exergames on the cognitive function of institutionalized older persons. These hypotheses are discussed.