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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Motor Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1463935

The potential impact of exercise on affect and neuroinflammation in older adults with Fibromyalgia: A scoping review

Provisionally accepted
Taylor Taylor Taylor Taylor 1*Fitzgerald Dodds Fitzgerald Dodds 1McKenna Tharpe McKenna Tharpe 1Emily Zumbro Emily Zumbro 1Michael Hankes Michael Hankes 1Raymond Jones Raymond Jones 1Deanna Rumble Deanna Rumble 2Lisa Antoine Lisa Antoine 1Kristen Allen-Watts Kristen Allen-Watts 1Andrew Sims Andrew Sims 3Reshu Chandra Reshu Chandra 1Burel R. Goodin Burel R. Goodin 4Jarred Younger Jarred Younger 1Thomas W. Buford Thomas W. Buford 1
  • 1 University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, United States
  • 2 University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas, United States
  • 3 University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, United States
  • 4 Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Fibromyalgia (FM) is a widespread chronic pain condition with prevalence increasing in older adults. Older adults living with FM experience longer pain symptom durations that can negatively impact their quality of life. Affect and neuroinflammation are potential factors that can exacerbate pain symptoms. Exercise is a recommended intervention to manage pain symptoms; however, adherence limitations persist. Drawing on the Biopsychosocial Framework of Chronic Pain, this scoping review Exercise, Affect, Neuroinflammation, and Fibromyalgia 2 explores how exercise impacts factors related to neuroinflammation and affect, and how these factors contribute to exercise adherence in older adults living with FM. Following Arksey & O'Malley's (2005) scoping review guidelines, we have conducted a scoping search of articles related to exercise and older adults living with FM published before 2024. The extracted study characteristics include publication type, study design, affect outcomes, neuroinflammation outcomes, exercise type, exercise adherence, and sample demographic information. We have provided an overview of the relationship between affect and neuroinflammation in studies including older adults living with FM and highlight the impact of exercise on affect and neuroinflammation in older adults living with FM. A conceptual framework is provided illustrating the reciprocal relationship between exercise, affective changes, neuroinflammation, and exercise adherence. Our results suggest that exercise may improve affect, while limited evidence suggests that aerobic and resistance exercise improve neuroinflammation. Finally, implications for importance and future directions in the context of potential biological factors impacted are provided.

    Keywords: Exercise, Affect, Neuroinflammation, older adults, Fibromyalgia

    Received: 12 Jul 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Taylor, Dodds, Tharpe, Zumbro, Hankes, Jones, Rumble, Antoine, Allen-Watts, Sims, Chandra, Goodin, Younger and Buford. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Taylor Taylor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.