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• Review •
Research progress of multimodal magnetic resonance imaging in exercise therapy for Parkinson's disease
WANG Yuting  YU Hong  ZHENG Feifei  ZHENG Xiaohan  ZHANG Tingyi  LIU Xuehuan  GAO Xiao  LIU Jun 

DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.020.


[Abstract] Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by bradykinesia, resting tremor, and gait disturbances. Exercise therapy, as an important non-pharmacological intervention, is safe and associated with minimal adverse effects, and has shown considerable potential in improving clinical symptoms in patients with PD. However, the central neural mechanisms underlying its therapeutic effects remain to be further elucidated. MRI enables non-invasive, in vivo assessment of neuroplasticity across structural, functional, and molecular levels, providing a valuable tool for investigating the neuroimaging mechanisms of exercise interventions. This review focuses on multimodal MRI techniques that have been widely applied in clinical research and summarizes the neural regulatory mechanisms of different exercise interventions in PD, including aerobic exercise, resistance training, balance and gait training, multimodal exercise programs, as well as integrative interventions such as dance, Tai Chi, and exergaming. The aim is to provide imaging-based evidence for objectively evaluating therapeutic efficacy and to offer reference for the development of individualized rehabilitation strategies, ultimately improving patients' quality of life. In addition, this review summarizes the current limitations of existing studies and outlines future research directions.
[Keywords] Parkinson's disease；magnetic resonance imaging；exercise therapy；brain structure；brain function；neuroplasticity

WANG Yuting1   YU Hong1   ZHENG Feifei2   ZHENG Xiaohan1   ZHANG Tingyi1   LIU Xuehuan2   GAO Xiao1   LIU Jun1*  

1 Department of Radiology, the Fourth Central Hospital Affiliated to Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300140, China

2 Department of Radiology, Tianjin People's Hospital, Tianjin 300121, China

Corresponding author: LIU J, E-mail: cjr.liujun@vip.163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-12-26
Accepted  2026-04-17
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.020
DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.020.

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