Different types of physical exercise in brain activity of older adults: A systematic review

To verify the effects of different modalities of physical exercise on brain activity of older adults. Systematic searches were conducted according to the PICOS strategy and the following databases were searched: PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo and Scielo. Two independent evaluators performed the initial selection from reading the title and abstract based on the stipulated eligibility criteria. The searches resulted in 1935 titles, of which 97 were duplicated and 1793 were excluded based on reading the titles and abstracts. This phase resulted in 45 articles for detailed analysis. At this stage, 35 articles were excluded because they did not meet the eligibility criteria. The information for qualitative analysis was extracted from 10 articles that met the criteria. There was improvement in the brain activity of older adults regardless of the type of physical exercise performed (aerobic, neuromuscular, flexibility or neuromotor), but with a discrete advantage for balance and coordination exercises (neuromotor). •Different types of physical exercise induce improvements in brain activity•The increase in brain activity was more pronounced in aerobic and neuromotor exercise•The exergame could be considered a dual task, provoking additional effects