Left And Right Hemispheric Brain Function After Immediate And Regular Exercise: A Systematic Review
Vol.20,No.1(2026)
Background: Research is advancing rapidly, focusing on the whole brain; it examines whole-brain outcomes, with limited attention to how exercise influences specific hemispheric processes. The impacts of different exercises on the left and right hemispheres remain unmapped.
Aim: This systematic review aims to determine the effects of immediate and regular exercise on left- and right-hemispheric brain function.
Method: The researchers collected 363 articles in this area from the following scientific databases: PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Afterward, researchers followed the PRISMA guidelines, and the protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251055235). 35 articles were selected for review based on the PRISMA checklist and PICOS framework, meeting the eligibility criteria.
Results: Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies show that endurance exercise activates the right hemisphere in motor adaptation, spatial processing, and affect regulation, while the left hemisphere is active in motor learning, emotional regulation, and working memory after aerobic exercise. Strength exercises engage the right hemisphere for attentional control and proprioception, whereas the left hemisphere supports voluntary motor planning. Coordinative exercises also exhibit lateralized activation, with the right hemisphere supporting balance and visuomotor integration, and the left hemisphere facilitating fine motor skills and goal-directed behavior.
Low-intensity, immediate (acute) exercise may alter cortical activation, hemodynamics, and executive processing in the left hemisphere. Also, moderate-intensity exercise may enhance left-hemispheric function, which is associated with motor planning in the left cortex. Whereas high-intensity acute exercise demonstrated right-hemispheric activation, involved in stress processing and autonomic control. Four months of regular (chronic) exercise enhanced left temporal hemispheric activation, and six months of chronic exercise displayed that hemispheric asymmetry (left and right alpha activity). Whereas, after performing one year of regular exercise, there were bilateral regional changes (frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes), and after more than one year of regular exercise, there was increased right hemispheric activation.
Conclusion: This review highlights how different types of immediate and regular exercise affect brain function by uniquely engaging the left and right hemispheres.
Regular Exercise; Chronic Exercise; Immediate Exercise; Acute Exercise; Right Hemisphere; Left Hemisphere
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