Review Article

Aerobic Exercise and Human Visual Cortex Neuroplasticity: A Narrative Review

Table 1

Summary table of human studies assessing the effect of exercise on visual function.

AuthorPopulationSample sizeVisual taskExerciseExercise intensityMeasured before/after or during exerciseExercise dosageEffect of exercise

Holzschneider et al. [62]Middle-aged adults (40-55 years) (47 included in fMRI)Spatial learning, virtual maze45 minutes of cycling85% max HRBefore/afterMultiple (2x/week for 6 months)Yes
Lunghi and Sale [17]Healthy adults (avg age 22) (7 males)Binocular rivalry10 minutes cycling, 10 minutes off while watching a movie and patching (translucent patch) (2 hours)~120 bpmBefore/after (up to 120 minutes after patching + exercise)SingleYes
Perini et al. [63]Healthy males (avg age 23) exercise group, control groupOrientation discrimination task60 revolutions per minute on bike for 30 minutes70% max HRBefore/afterSingleYes
Maddock et al. [18]Healthy adults (avg age~ 25)n/a8-17 minutes of cycling to reach 80% max HR80% of max HRBefore/afterSingleYes
Zhou et al. [16]Healthy adults (avg age 30) (3 females)Binocular combination taskCycling 10 minutes every 20 minutes for 2 hours60% or 80% max HRBefore/after (up to 45 minutes after patching + exercise)SingleNo
Benjamin et al. [65]Healthy adults (avg age 26, 24, 24) for behavioral (4 females), for SSVEP (10 females), for pupillometry (8 females)Surround suppressionWalking (5 km/h) vs. standing during visual taskn/aDuringSingleNo
Connell et al. [68], Connell et al. [68]Healthy adults (9 per group, M and F)Motion direction discriminationExercise before or after perceptual learning50% of VO2 maxBefore/afterMultiple (5 visits)No
Lunghi et al. [79]Adult anisometropic patients (20-40 years)Binocular rivalryPatching during exercise110-120 bpm for 10 minutes, interleaved for 2 hoursBefore/afterMultiple (6 visits)Yes
Finn et al. [67]Healthy adults (avg age 22) (21 females)Binocular rivalry10 minutes cycling, 10 minutes off while watching a movie and patching (translucent patch) (2 hours)Target HR of 120 bpmBefore/after (up to 120 minutes after patching + exercise)SingleNo
Baldwin et al. [64]Healthy adults (20-28) (3 sessions each)Dichoptic surround suppressionCycle for 30 minutes, rest for 9060% of VO2maxBefore/after (up to 45 minutes after intervention)SingleNo
Campana et al. [66]Healthy adults, 20 per group (active and control)Vernier5 days of moderate exercise60-70% of max HR based on ageBefore/afterMultiple (5 visits)No
Virathone et al. [21]Healthy adults (20-43 years)Binocular rivalry10 minutes cycling, 10 minutes off50-70% of max HR based on ageBefore/after (up to 90 minutes after intervention)SingleYes