Introduction

Executive function (EF) refers to the set of cognitive processes that enable individuals to regulate their thoughts and actions during goal-directed behaviors1. EF consists of three core and often studied subfunctions2: inhibition control (resistance to dominant, automatic, or controlling behaviors, including behavioral inhibition and interference control3, cognitive flexibility (readiness to switch between tasks or mental processes4, and working memory (storage and manipulation of information in the brain5. Executive function is closely related to an individual’s academic performance6 and physical and mental health7and deficits in executive function can lead to psychiatric disorders in adolescence8,9 and Alzheimer’s disease in old age10.

Executive function has been shown to be plastic3 and there is substantial evidence that physical activity is effective in promoting the development of executive function throughout an individual’s lifespan. Physical activity programs typically include the type, frequency, time and intensity of physical activity. Accumulating evidence has revealed that physical activity promotes the development of executive function in a dose-dependent manner, but there are differences in the effects of different doses of exercise on executive function and subfunctions. For example, one study reported that, compared with other sports, ball games have the greatest effect on inhibition and working memory in children and adolescents and that dance has the greatest effect on cognitive flexibility11. It has also been suggested that a long-term continuous physical activity program improves executive function better than a single session of physical activity12. Ludyga et al. (2020) examined the acute effects of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on executive function in groups of different ages and fitness levels and reported that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise has a small positive effect on executive function13.

With the rapid integration of neuroscience and sports science in recent years, research on the effects of exercise interventions on executive function has moved beyond the behavioral level to include neural mechanisms. Early studies revealed that physical activity can positively influence brain plasticity by promoting neurogenic, neuroadaptive, and neuroprotective processes14. Many studies on the mechanisms in the brain underlying cognition have shown that physical activity produces significant changes in functional brain activation and cognitive performance across age groups15. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of physical activity on executive function remain unclear. Most previous studies focused on populations with diseases, such as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)16 autism17 and mild cognitive impairment (MCI)18 with fewer studies in healthy populations; second, the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of different amounts of physical activity may differ, with one cross-sectional study finding a negative correlation between age and brain activation in prefrontal regions in the development of inhibition in 8–20-year-old individuals19; and for working memory, Ciesielski et al. (2006) reported that the inferior frontal gyrus and inferotemporal gyrus are more active in adult, whereas the premotor cortex, cerebellum, and insula are more active in adolescents20. Although studies have been conducted to provide evidence that exercise has a positive effect on executive function, these studies vary in sample selection, exercise type, and exercise duration and thus do not provide consistent and generalizable results at the level of mechanisms in the brain by which exercise improves individual executive function.

To obtain consistent results across studies, the present study integrated neuroimaging studies on the mechanisms in the brain underlying the effects of exercise on executive function in healthy populations, calculated the likelihood of activation across experiments for each voxel using activation likelihood estimation (ALE), and used subgroup analysis to analyze brain activation patterns across exercise amounts and study samples to explore differences in brain activation patterns under the influence of different factors. This information could provide exercise and brain health researchers and practitioners with a better understanding of how exercise promotes cognitive development in healthy populations and provide a scientific basis for developing effective exercise intervention strategies.

Results

Study selection

Three independent authors reviewed the literature retrieved from each database. A total of 21,263 articles were included in the literature search, and 6826 duplicate articles were removed. The titles and abstracts of the remaining 14,437 articles were initially screened, and of these articles, 14,265 articles were excluded because they did not meet the criteria (reviews, non-human experiments, and results not relevant to the study). The full text of the remaining 185 articles was further evaluated, and 169 articles were excluded (72 studies involving nonhealthy populations, 7 studies involving non-whole-brain analyses, 6 studies involving non-MRI experiments, 63 studies involving cross-sectional survey experiments, 5 studies without physical activity intervention, 6 studies without executive function, and 10 studies that did not provide MNI or Taliarach coordinates), resulting in 16 articles that met the criteria for this study. A search of previous relevant reviews identified 4 relevant articles that met the screening criteria and were therefore included in this study, resulting in a final total of 20 articles. Fewer relevant diffusion tensor imaging studies were found and were not included in the analysis. The screening process is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
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PRISMA flow chart for the identification of articles and assessment of their eligibility.

Study characteristics

A total of 149 activation points were included in the 20 included articles, with 666 participants. Of these, 16 articles used task-based fMRI (9 for inhibition, 5 for working memory, and 2 for cognitive flexibility), and 4 articles used resting-state fMRI. The characteristics of the specific studies are shown in Table 1.

On the basis of the characteristics of the literature, three subgroup analyses were performed: (1) three subgroups were established according to age: the children and adolescents group (< 18 years old), the adult group (18–55 years old), and the older adult group (> 55 years of age); (2) three subgroups were established according to exercise type: the aerobic exercise group, the integrated exercise program group (including resistance training, balance training with high-intensity interval training), and the dual-task intervention group (simultaneous exercise task and cognitive task); and (3) two subgroups were established according to exercise duration: acute exercise and chronic exercise.

Table 1 Characteristics of the studies included in the review and meta-analysis.
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Analysis of task-based fMRI data

Analysis of Inhibition

A total of 91 foci from 11 experiments were included by analyzing the coordinate points of brain regions activated by exercise-affected inhibitor function.(Table 2)21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29 which showed a total of five peak activation points, as shown in Fig. 2a; Table 2. Specifically, these peak activation points were located in the left superior temporal gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, right precuneus and right parahippocampal gyrus.

The coordinate points of the activated brain regions were analyzed according to the following different task paradigms of the inhibitory subfunctions:

For the congruent task, only one study was included because of the restricted number of studies retrieved22. The original results revealed 2 peaks when the participants performed the inhibitory function congruency task, which were located in the right hippocampus and left middle temporal gyrus.

For the incongruent task, a total of 10 foci from 2 studies22,23 were included, and the ALE results revealed a total of 2 peak activation points, as shown in Fig. 2b; Table 3, which were located in the right limbic cingulate gyrus as well as the right superior temporal gyrus.

For the incongruent minus congruent task, a total of 79 foci from 8 publications21,23,24,25,26,27,28,29 were included, and the results revealed 3 peaks located in the right precuneus, the right inferior frontal gyrus versus the left middle frontal gyrus, as shown in Fig. 2c; Table 4.

Table 2 Brain regions showing significant convergence of activity for activation in inhibition.
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Table 3 Brain regions showing significant convergence of activity for activation in incongruent.
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Table 4 Brain regions showing significant convergence of activity for activation in incongruent-congruent.
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Fig. 2
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Activation clusters for inhibition ALE analysis in standard MNI space. (a) Inhibition. (b) Incongruent. (c) Incongruent-congruent.

Further subgroup analysis was performed for the incongruent task minus the congruent task, and the results are shown in Table 5; Fig. 3.

Subgroup analysis according to age

In the children and adolescents group, the analysis included 8 foci derived from 2 publications23,29. The findings indicated that two peaks emerged during the performance of inhibitory tasks, with these peaks located in the caudate tail of the left cerebral sub-lobar region and the caudate body of the right cerebral sub-lobar region. In the adult group, a single study was incorporated, and the original article reported that brain regions exhibiting activation during the task were located in the right precentral gyrus and the left superior frontal gyrus. Within the older adult group, data from 68 foci across 5 studies21,24,26,27,28 were examined. The results revealed two peaks, one in the right precuneus and one in the right inferior frontal gyrus.

Subgroup analysis according to exercise type

In the aerobic exercise group, a total of 21 foci from four publications21,23,28,29 were included, and the results revealed that after the aerobic exercise intervention, a total of 1 activation peak was located in the left precuneus lobe. In the integrated exercise group, 58 foci from 4 publications21,24,25,26 were included. The results revealed that after integrated exercise, a total of 3 activation peaks occurred, which were located in the right precuneus, left middle frontal gyrus, and right inferior frontal gyrus.

Subgroup analysis according to exercise duration

In the acute exercise group, 19 foci from 3 publications25,28,29 were included, which showed a total of one peak activation point after acute exercise intervention, located in the left precuneus. In the chronic exercise group, a total of 60 foci from 5 publications21,23,24,27 were included, which showed a total of two peak activation points after chronic exercise intervention, located in the left precuneus and the right inferior frontal gyrus.

Table 5 Brain regions showing significant convergence of activity for subgroup analysis of activation in inhibition.
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Fig. 3
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Activation clusters for inhibition ALE analysis in standard MNI space. (a) Children. (b) Older adult. (c) Acute exercise. (d) Chronic exercise. (e) Aerobic exercise. (f) Integrated exercise.

Analysis of working memory

Across 3 studies30,31,32 (with a total of 13 foci included) reporting a significant decrease in brain activation specifically related to working memory during sport intervention, significant convergence was observed in the right thalamus and the right paracentral lobule. No cluster was observed to have increased activation30,33,34,35as shown in Table 6; Fig. 4.

Table 6 Brain regions showing significant convergence of activity for deactivation in working memory.
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Fig. 4
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Activation clusters for working memory ALE analysis in standard MNI space.

Further subgroup analysis was subsequently performed. The results are shown in Tables 7 and 8; Figs. 5 and 6.

Subgroup analysis according to age

In the activated brain region, 2 studies30,33 (with a total of 10 foci included) were included in the adult group, and the results revealed significant convergence of working memory tasks in the left superior frontal gyrus. The remaining 2 studies involved children and older adult, and thus, they were not analyzed separately.

In the deactivated brain regions, 2 studies31,32 (with a total of 10 foci included) were included in the older adult group, and the results revealed significant convergence of working memory tasks in the right thalamus.

Subgroup analysis according to exercise type

In the activated brain region, 3 studies30,33,35 (with a total of 15 foci included) were included in the aerobic exercise group, and the results revealed significant convergence of working memory tasks in the left superior frontal gyrus.

Subgroup analysis according to exercise duration

In the activated brain region, 2 studies30,35 (with a total of 8 foci included) were included in the acute exercise group, and the results revealed significant convergence of working memory tasks in the cerebellar hillslope, lingual gyrus, and medial frontal gyrus. 2 studies33,34 (with a total of 9 foci included) were included in the chronic exercise group, and the results revealed significant convergence of working memory tasks in the left superior temporal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus (BA8), left postcentral gyrus, and left superior frontal gyrus (BA10)(Some coordinates from the same article with aerobic subgroup).

In the deactivated brain regions, 2 studies31,32 (with a total of 10 foci included) were included in the chronic exercise group, and the results revealed significant convergence of working memory tasks in the right thalamus(Some coordinates from the same article with older adult subgroup).

Table 7 Brain regions showing significant convergence of activity for subgroup analysis of deactivation in working memory.
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Fig. 5
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Deactivation clusters for working memory ALE analysis in standard MNI space. (a) Older adult. (b) Chronic exercise.

Table 8 Brain regions showing significant convergence of activity for subgroup analysis of activation in working memory.
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Fig. 6
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Activation clusters for working memory ALE analysis in standard MNI space. (a) Adult. (b) Acute exercise. (c) Chronic exercise. (d) Aerobic exercise.

Analysis of cognitive flexibility

Across 2 studies36,37 (with a total of 17 foci included) reporting a significant decrease in brain activation specifically related to cognitive flexibility during sport intervention, no cluster was observed.

Analysis of resting-state fMRI data

Resting-state fMRI was used to analyze brain regions where changes in functional activity were significantly associated with improvements in executive function, and a total of 7 foci from 1 study of working memory38 and 2 studies of inhibition39,40 were included. Significant convergence was observed in the left superior frontal gyrus, right cingulate gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and top of the left and right culmen. The results are shown in Table 9; Fig. 7.

Table 9 Brain regions showing significant convergence of activity for executive function on resting-state fMRI.
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Discussion

Task-based fMRI

Inhibition

The ALE meta-analysis results indicated that during the performance of inhibitory functions in the task state, brain activation was predominantly observed in the left superior temporal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus, along with the right inferior frontal gyrus, right precuneus, and right parahippocampal gyrus. However, the functional implications of these activation changes should be interpreted with caution, as increased BOLD signal may reflect either improved neural efficiency or compensatory recruitment due to increased cognitive demand41.

For the congruent task, 2 peaks were separately located in the right hippocampus and the left middle temporal gyrus. The hippocampus, a crucial structure within the temporal lobe, plays a pivotal role in episodic memory and spatial orientation42moreover, the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), located in the middle region of the temporal lobe near the lateral sulcus and above the superior temporal sulcus, is integral to semantic information retrieval22.

Fig. 7
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Activation clusters for working memory ALE analysis in standard MNI space.

For the incongruent task, a total of 10 foci from two studies22,23 were analyzed, and the ALE results highlighted two peak activation points, as shown in Fig. 2b. These regions were located in the right cingulate gyrus and the right superior temporal gyrus. The cingulate gyrus is involved primarily in monitoring and resolving conflicts, such as error correction, suppression of irrelevant thoughts, and inhibition of responses to threat-related distractors (Cui et al., 2019). The superior temporal gyrus, located between the lateral sulcus and the superior temporal sulcus, is essential for auditory processing, music perception, and language comprehension.

The incongruent minus congruent task comparison revealed three peak activation points in the right precuneus, right inferior frontal gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus. The precuneus, located on the medial surface of the parietal lobe, is anatomically positioned between the sensorimotor cortex and the parieto-occipital cortex44. The parietal lobe is associated with attentional selection and conflict resolution, whereas the occipital and parietal lobes together form the visual association cortex, a critical system for cognitive processing43. The inferior and middle frontal gyri, both parts of the prefrontal cortex, serve important executive functions; the inferior frontal gyrus is primarily responsible for executive control, including resistance to interference, suppression of irrelevant information, and conflict resolution; and the middle frontal gyrus is associated with higher-order executive and decision-making functions45.

Subgroup analysis according to age

Subgroup analysis revealed distinct patterns of brain region activation during inhibitory tasks following exercise interventions in different age groups. Two peaks were observed in the children and adolescent group (ages 9–11 years): the right anterior cingulate cortex and the left middle frontal gyrus. These areas are associated with inhibitory interference, working memory, and spatial attention46. A study by Krafft et al.(2014) et al. indicated that after motor intervention, children and adolescents exhibited bilateral anterior cingulate cortex activation during inhibitory tasks, which is crucial for managing increased conflict in incongruent versus congruent tasks. Additionally, children were found to utilize the left prefrontal cortex more extensively, possibly due to the use of language strategies during the task46. Furthermore, one study Chen et al.(2011) revealed that, after exercise intervention, children exhibited activation in brain regions such as the anterior cingulate gyrus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal lobes during the Flanker task. This evidence suggests that exercise may alter brain activation patterns in children and adolescents performing inhibitory tasks, potentially by enhancing the ability of the right anterior cingulate cortex to inhibit interference and the role of the left middle frontal gyrus, thereby improving inhibitory function performance.

In the adult group, only one paper was included, and it showed that during the task state, moderate-intensity exercise increased brain activation in three clusters: the first in the left superior and middle frontal gyri; the second extending from the right precentral gyrus to the sub frontal gyrus, the Rolandic lid, and the insula; and the third including the left sub frontal gyrus (delta), the sub frontal gyrus, and part of the middle frontal gyrus. Moderate-intensity exercise was associated with a trend toward improved behavioral performance in the Go/No-go task and increased brain activation in regions related to executive function, attention, and motor processes (insula, supramarginal gyrus, precentral gyrus, and supplementary motor areas) during the hit trail25.

In the older adult group, two peak activation points were identified in the right precuneus and right inferior frontal gyrus. The precuneus is typically associated with attention allocation, spatial working memory, and self-directed attention; the inferior frontal gyrus is related to various cognitive functions, such as language production, working memory, and cognitive control26. Nagamatsu et al. suggested that fall vulnerability in older adult is associated with a decrease in inhibitory function, which is affected by a decline in prefrontal cortex function due to aging. In an fMRI study of older adult, Pensel et al.(2018) reported that, after six months of exercise training, individuals in the intervention group showed brain activation changes in frontal regions associated with health gains. This evidence indicates that exercise training may enhance inhibition in older adult, as evidenced by increased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus region on neuroimaging.

Different age groups exhibited distinct patterns of brain region activation in inhibitory tasks post-exercise intervention, with children and adolescents primarily exhibiting activation of the anterior cingulate cortex and middle frontal gyrus, adult exhibiting activation of the superior and middle frontal gyri and precentral gyri, and older adult exhibiting activation of the inferior frontal gyrus and precuneus. These changes may be related to the impact of exercise interventions on inhibitory functional performance in each age group. Overall, inhibitory function activation during tasks was concentrated in the frontal and precuneus lobes across different age groups. These findings suggest that exercise may enhance inhibitory function by affecting these brain areas, positively impacting cognitive health.

However, other studies have found that the volume of gray matter in the frontal and parietal lobes decreases with age, and is also associated with age-related declines in various behavioral measures of cognitive function47 and studies have found that Alzheimer’s patients have overactivation of the precuneus in tasks involving coding processes such as visuospatial tasks (Angle discrimination)48. The same phenomenon was found for the inferior frontal gyrus49. The intervention period in the study of the elderly was mostly a long period of 6 months to 12 months, and activation during this process may also be caused by aging.

Subgroup analysis according to type

Subgroup analyses examining various exercise types revealed distinct patterns of brain region activation during inhibitory tasks following exercise interventions. In the power cycling aerobic exercise group, the ALE results identified a single activation point in the left precuneus. The precuneus occupies an anatomically strategic position at the confluence of the frontal, posterior, and limbic lobes, intersecting the default mode network (DMN) with other resting-state networks (RSNs), including the dorsal attention network (DAN) and sensorimotor network (SMN), and structurally interconnecting these networks50. These findings suggest that the precuneus can coordinate inhibitory tasks by integrating multiple large-scale networks and that aerobic exercise may induce plastic changes in the precuneus, potentially enhancing executive control performance.

The integrated exercise program group presented three activation points, located in the right precuneus, left middle frontal gyrus, and right inferior frontal gyrus. The middle frontal gyrus is implicated in action perception, social cognition, motor processing, and action comprehension, functions that are integral to the integrated exercise program, which includes action instruction27. The learning process of actions likely involves action perception and comprehension, which could account for the increased activation of the middle frontal gyrus.

Compared with the aerobic exercise group, the integrated exercise program group demonstrated a more complex pattern of brain region activation. The integrated exercise program group showed peak activation in the right precuneus, left middle frontal gyrus, and right inferior frontal gyrus. This disparity may arise from the multifaceted nature of the integrated exercise program, which incorporates not only aerobic exercise but also resistance training, balance training, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). These programs may impact multiple brain regions due to their diverse exercise regimens, leading to broader brain activation during cognitive task performance. Furthermore, the movement instruction component of the integrated exercise program, which involves movement perception, social cognition, motor processing, and movement comprehension, may also contribute to the increased activation observed in the frontal middle gyrus.

Subgroup analysis according to exercise duration

Subgroup analyses revealed that the effects of exercise interventions on brain region activation during inhibitory tasks vary depending on the exercise cycle. In the acute exercise group, the results indicated a peak activation point in the left precuneus. The precuneus, located in the parietal cortex, plays a role in attentional selection and conflict resolution. The visual association cortex, formed by the occipital and parietal lobes, undergoes plastic changes due to exercise, potentially increasing executive control performance by improving the integration of visual information43.

In the long-duration exercise group, 60 foci from 5 papers were analyzed, revealing two peak activation points: one in the left precuneus and another in the right inferior frontal gyrus. The inferior frontal gyrus, a key region in the prefrontal cortex, is crucial for executive control, including resistance to interference, inhibition of irrelevant information, and conflict resolution43. Studies have shown21 that increased frontal cortex activation during the Flanker task is correlated with improved task accuracy. Exercise may thus increase executive control performance by bolstering the capacity of the inferior frontal gyrus to manage interference, inhibit irrelevant information, and resolve conflicts43.

Different exercise cycles impact inhibitory function task-state brain region activation differently, with short-term exercise primarily affecting the precuneus in the visual association cortex and long-term exercise leading to broader activation in both the precuneus and inferior frontal gyrus. These findings suggest that exercise of varying durations elicits distinct brain region changes, possibly due to the cumulative effects of long-term exercise. Consequently, long-term exercise programs may augment neural activation and cognitive function during complex tasks by fostering enduring changes in brain structure.

Working memory

The results of the ALE meta-analysis revealed no correlation between brain region activation and the effect of exercise on working memory, and brain region deactivation was reflected mainly in the right thalamus and right paracentral lobule.

The thalamus plays a crucial role in the brain, receiving neural projections from the cortex, cerebellum, and subcortex51 and forming a circuit with the prefrontal lobes that together maintain working memory performance52. Studies have shown that divers53 soccer players54 and track and field athletes55 have larger thalamic volumes than the general population, suggesting in part that exercise promotes neurogenesis. A study also revealed that functional connectivity in brain regions such as the superior frontal gyrus and thalamus was enhanced in older adult after physical activity, thus promoting cognitive function56.

The role of the paracentral lobule in working memory has been mentioned in only a few studies57,58; the precentral gyrus, which contains a part of paracentral lobule, is involved not only in higher-order control processes of cognition but also in fine-motor control and sensory-motor transitions59. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in sports science have also revealed that exercise promotes an increase in the volume of the paracentral lobule as well as an increase in functional connectivity between brain regions60,61,62. Since there is some compensation between brain regions and simultaneously performing multiple tasks can lead to excessively high activation levels in brain regions, the negative activation in the thalamus and paracentral lobule after exercise intervention can be interpreted as an increase in neural efficiency.

Subgroup analysis of increased activation in working memory

In the exercise type subgroup, the ALE results in the aerobic exercise group were reflected in the left superior frontal gyrus. In the age subgroup, the ALE results in the adult group were also reflected in the left superior frontal gyrus. The superior frontal gyrus functions primarily when cognitive demands are exceeded; a lesion study revealed that the performance of patients with lesions of the left supramarginal gyrus was more severely impaired on a 3-back task compared to performance on a 2-back task63. In contrast, multiple cognitive demands may arise during exercise, thereby activating the superior frontal gyrus to resist external interference. Second, aerobic exercise increases cerebral blood flow64 and promotes neural growth, which leads to stronger neuronal connections within the prefrontal cortex.

Whereas the results for the left superior frontal gyrus were found in both subgroups, similar results were not obtained for working memory. According to the included literature, studies of older adult did not find coordinates containing the superior frontal gyrus. The reason for this may be that older adult experience cognitive decline in brain function due to aging, particularly in the frontal lobes, which results in facilitation of activation in other brain regions due to decentralized and compensatory activation in the brains of older adult compared with those in younger adult when dealing with the same task65. Second, dual-task training was used in research on older adult, which revealed that activation in the bilateral parietal-temporal junction, regions that play an important role in attentional switching66improved during dual-task training.

In the intervention duration subgroup, the ALE results in the chronic exercise group were reflected in the left superior temporal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, and left postcentral gyrus, which are located in the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes, respectively. The ALE results in the acute exercise group were reflected in the left cerebellar hill slope, right lingual gyrus, and right middle frontal gyrus. There are no studies examining the mechanisms in the brain underlying the effects of different intervention durations on working memory, but both acute and chronic exercise interventions have been found to promote working memory in behavioral studies67. One possible reason for this is that cardiorespiratory fitness is positively correlated with gray matter volume68and chronic aerobic exercise effectively promotes the development of cardiorespiratory fitness in individuals, which in turn promotes neurogenesis.

The dual-task program group34 of the exercise type subgroup, the older adult group34 of the age subgroup, and the children’s group35 were not analyzed further in this study because the number of studies was small, and therefore, the results obtained were not credible.

Subgroup analysis of reduced activation in working memory

In the age subgroup, the ALE results in the older adult group were reflected in the right thalamus. In the exercise duration subgroup, the ALE results in the chronic exercise group were also reflected in the right thalamus. Studies have shown that reduced thalamic volume due to aging is associated with reduced working memory capacity69,70. A review also summarized the relationship between the thalamus and aging, finding that reductions in thalamic volume or changes in functional networks were associated with declines in various aspects of cognitive ability, such as attentional capacity, situational memory, and working memory, from both macro- and micro-level perspective71. The thalamus present in the older adult group is also present in working memory.

Cognitive flexibility

There were no results related to the activated brain regions involved in the effect of exercise on cognitive flexibility. Two studies36,37 used different amounts of exercise: one focused on the effect of acute aerobic exercise on cognitive flexibility in college students using a more-odd shifting task, and one focused on the effect of chronic tai chi on cognitive flexibility in older adult using a switch stroop task. The heterogeneity of the amounts of exercise may be one of the reasons why conclusions could not be drawn.

Resting-state fMRI

Fewer studies have investigated the effects of exercise intervention on executive function using rs-fMRI, and only three studies were identified in our search; however, previous researchers have reported that compared with task-state fMRI, rs-fMRI can avoid confounding effects based on subject differences due to task design72. In the included rs-fMRI study, the ALE results in activated brain regions with respect to the effects of exercise on executive function were reflected in the left superior frontal gyrus, right cingulate gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and left and right culmen.

The superior frontal gyrus and cingulate gyrus are both involved in both inhibitory function and working memory, and the same results were obtained in rs-fMRI, which included 2 articles using Tai Chi and 1 article using aerobic exercise. The superior frontal gyrus functions mainly when cognitive demands are exceeded63and the anterior cingulate gyrus functions when task conflicts are resolved43. The middle frontal gyrus performs the action perception, social cognition, biomotor processing, action comprehension, etc27. When learning tai chi, it is necessary to pay attention to the angle, speed, and orientation of each action. Through the establishment of sensory perception of external guidance systems such as vision, hearing, and touch, it is necessary to inhibit the existing dominant response to modify and inhibit limb tension in a timely manner. This will help to achieve the movement involved in stretching and strong upper and lower coordination as well as to continuously strengthen motor skills and the related degree of “automation” of motor skills. Several processes are involved, such as attentional control, motor control, and complex cognitive demands, which increase the activation of the superior frontal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, and middle frontal gyrus.

The culmen is a part of cerebellar vermis, and the cerebellum not only plays a role in the coordination of movement but also plays an equally important role in cognition73. Additionally, a meta-analysis revealed greater changes in activation in the anterior cerebellum in a performance response and active inhibition experimental paradigm74. A meta-analysis revealed that exercise leads to structural and functional changes in the cerebellum that can slow cognitive decline in older adult56.

Conclusion

The present study synthesized data from 20 task-based and resting-state fMRI studies using ALE meta-analysis and revealed that exercise interventions significantly altered brain activation patterns during cognitive task performance. In terms of inhibition, an integrated exercise program produces more brain region activation than aerobic exercise; activation is concentrated in the anterior cingulate gyrus and middle frontal gyrus in the children and adolescent group; the superior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus in the adult group; and the precuneus and inferior frontal gyrus in the older adult group. Additionally, regular long-term exercise appears to produce more brain region activation than acute exercise. In terms of working memory, exercise increases activation in the superior frontal gyrus in adult and attenuates thalamic activation in older adult. This study is the first to include the literature on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and revealed that the exercise-mediated improvement in executive function is primarily characterized by increased activation in the superior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and cerebellum. Overall, this study revealed that the effects of exercise on the activation of brain regions during cognitive tasks in healthy individuals are primarily observed in the frontal cortex, precuneus, thalamus, and cingulate gyrus.

Limitations

This study is exploratory and has several limitations that must be considered. First, the relatively small sample size (20 total studies across inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility and resting-state paradigms) constrained our analyses in multiple ways: (1) precluding valid between-group comparisons (e.g., by exercise dose) per GingerALE guidelines; (2) precluding meaningful analysis of cognitive flexibility due to the very small number of available studies (n = 2); and (3) limiting our ability to account for variations in specific task paradigms within executive subdomains. While we categorized studies by core executive functions, different paradigms (e.g., various working memory or inhibition tasks) may introduce heterogeneity that our analysis couldn’t address. (4) While our findings emphasize the benefits of exercise for executive function, the scarcity of studies reporting negative effects limits conclusions about potential adverse outcomes. Second, the predominance of certain paradigms (e.g., n-back tasks) may affect generalizability. Third, our analytical approach used an uncorrected threshold (p < 0.001) without FDR/FWE correction. Future research should employ larger samples with standardized paradigms to better isolate exercise effects from task-related variability.

Methods

This study followed the recommendations of the guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA)75,76 and has been registered in the PROSPERO registry under the registration number CRD42024538433.

Literature search

A comprehensive and systematic literature search was conducted to select relevant studies up to January 2024. The Chinese literature search was conducted using China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, and the China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and the English literature search was conducted using Pubmed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Scopus. Keywords related to “exercise”, “executive function”, and “functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)” (see Appendix 1) were used to search for articles using the subject or title with the abstract and keywords. The Chinese database was searched for journal articles, and the English database was searched for peer-reviewed journal articles. Eligibility was determined by a two-step process conducted by three authors (SAQ, CQY, and ZQY). First, the titles and abstracts of all identified articles were screened. In the second step, the full texts of the studies were independently reviewed based on predefined eligibility criteria and agreement was reached by discussion. In addition, a manual search for reviews on relevant topics was performed to avoid missing literature.

Selection criteria

Studies were included in the quantitative analysis if they met the following criteria:

  1. (1)

    The studies were conducted in the general population without a diagnosis of relevant disease (age and sex of the subjects were not restricted);

  2. (2)

    The literature included longitudinal intervention studies, including randomized controlled trials or crossover experimental designs;

  3. (3)

    At least one group was assigned to an exercise intervention;

  4. (4)

    Relevant studies used classic tasks to measure executive function (Flanker, Stroop, N-back, etc.) that are nationally and internationally accepted;

  5. (5)

    Task-based or resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to analyze activation in whole-brain regions associated with executive function rather than regions of interest (ROIs), and the coordinates of the resting-state fMRI are only included if there is a correlation with executive function.

  6. (6)

    The normalized MNI or Talairach spatial coordinates were reported.

Data extraction

To meet the inclusion criteria, a thorough and intensive reading of relevant articles was performed, and the following information was extracted from each study: literature information (author name and publication date), study type, study population (sample size and age), intervention (exercise duration, type, intensity, and time), functional task paradigm performed, and type of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Literature searches, inclusion and exclusion, and information extraction were performed by multiple investigators, followed by cross-validation. In cases of disagreement, consensus was reached through discussion among team members.

Risk of bias

The Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool was used in the review to assess the risk of bias in the included literature77 in seven areas: method of randomization, allocation concealment, blinding of subjects to trial personnel, blinding of outcome assessors, allocation concealment, completeness of outcome data, selective reporting of study results and other biases. A total of seven studies reported the method of randomization used, and four reported allocation concealment. Given the specificity of exercise interventions, most studies did not use blinding, and a total of six studies explicitly mentioned the use of blinding. All the studies showed a low risk of data completeness bias and selective reporting bias in the assessment of outcome indicators, as shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8
Fig. 8
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Graph and summary of bias graph. (A) Risk of bias graph: review authors’ judgments about each risk of bias item presented as percentages across all included studies. (B) Risk of bias summary: review authors’ judgments about each risk of bias item for each included study.

Activation likelihood estimate (ALE)

In this study, an ALE meta-analysis was performed using the Ginger ALE 3.0.2 software (https://brainmap.org)78,79. First, coordinate data were extracted from the included literature and entered in text format according to ALE input standards. This study used MNI standard space coordinates; therefore, Talairach coordinates were converted to MNI standard space coordinates using the Lancaster method80. The uncorrected p value method was then employed for correction, with a threshold of p < 0.001 and a minimum cluster size of 200 mm3resulting in the identification of brain activation clusters and maximum ALE values81. Finally, Mango V.4.0.1 (http://rii.uthscsa.edu/mango/) was used to visualize the images and overlay them onto the anatomical template, reporting the center coordinates, volume, and ALE values of the activated brain clusters. In addition, subgroup analyses based on exercise doses and subject characteristics were conducted to explore the mechanisms by which different types of exercise affect subfunctions of executive function in different characteristic groups.

Subgroup analysis subsection

Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore potential patterns of exercise-related activation across age groups (children/adolescents, adults, older adults), exercise types (aerobic, resistance), and intervention durations (acute, chronic). Importantly, these analyses examined neural activation patterns within each subgroup separately, rather than testing for direct statistical comparisons between subgroups. This analytical approach was adopted because: (1) the limited number of studies in some subgroups (e.g., n = 1 for adults) precluded meaningful between-group comparisons; and (2) our primary aim was to characterize potential subgroup-specific activation profiles rather than establish comparative effectiveness. All subgroup findings should therefore be interpreted as descriptive patterns rather than evidence of differential effects between groups.