Qigong exercise and cognitive function in brain imaging studies: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials in healthy and cognitively impaired populations

Abstract

Objective

Cognitive decline can significantly affect individuals’ overall health and well-being. While Qigong may hold promise as an intervention strategy, the underlying brain mechanisms of its beneficial effects remain unclear, particularly in cognitively impaired (CI) populations. This systematic review aims to investigate Qigong-induced brain changes and their associations with cognitive functions in both healthy and CI populations. It further seeks to identify potential consistent or divergent brain change patterns across these populations.

Methods

Five English databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and 2 Chinese databases Wanfang and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies with Qigong intervention and brain imaging outcomes from inception to March 2023. The quality of included studies was evaluated according to the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias tool.

Results

A total of 18 studies from 9 RCTs were included in this review. The results indicated that Qigong induced various structural and functional changes in multiple brain regions, including the frontal lobe, hippocampus and temporal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula, putamen, and caudate, among others. Within the brain changes, the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus were consistently reported across healthy and CI populations and were found to be associated with various cognitive functions.

Conclusions

Qigong exercise leads to diverse brain changes, with the alterations in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex likely contributing to its cognitive benefits. These findings provide support for the effectiveness of Qigong as a cognitive intervention.