Exercise may improve thinking after a stroke

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   736 stroke survivors took part in 14 trials in 9 countries. They were adults, with an average age of about 62, and about 6 in 10 were men.

2. 02

   What they did

   The exercise groups did cardio, strength, balance, or stretching and toning, usually two or three times a week. Programmes lasted about 12 weeks on average. The other groups got usual care, stretching, relaxation, social contact, or a wait before any training.

3. 03

   What happened

   Overall, the exercise groups did better on thinking tests than the other groups, by a small to moderate amount. Attention and processing speed improved most clearly. Planning and switching did not clearly improve, and neither did working memory. Programmes that mixed cardio and strength training looked best, but the paper found no clear gap between programme types.

What the review found

1. Helped

   Across 5 studies, exercise helped attention and thinking speed more than other groups did.

   Pooled analysis of 5 studies with 153 people · vs usual care, stretching, relaxation or social contact · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

Source