Aerobic exercise could significantly improve the lives of those affected by the mental health condition, schizophrenia, a new study has found.

According to the findings, just 12 weeks of aerobic exercise appear to improve how the brain functions.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental health condition characterised by disturbances in a person's thoughts, perceptions, emotions and behaviour. Symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, behaviour change, social withdrawal and problems sleeping.

The condition affects around one in every 100 people.

According to UK researchers, while hallucinations and delusions can often be treated with medication, most patients still experience ongoing cognitive deficits, such as memory problems and loss of concentration.

However, when the researchers combined data from 10 independent clinical trials involving almost 400 people with schizophrenia, they found that those who were treated with an aerobic exercise programme along with their medication, saw an overall improvement in brain functioning, compared to those who used medication alone.

The exercise programmes included the use of equipment such as exercise bikes and treadmills.

The researchers from the University of Manchester found that the areas of greatest improvement were in relation to the patients' ability to understand social situations, their attention span and their ‘working memory', i.e. how much information they could hold in their mind at one time.

The trials also suggested that the more exercise was undertaken, the bigger the effect on cognitive functioning.

"Cognitive deficits are one aspect of schizophrenia which are particularly problematic. They hinder recovery and impact negatively upon people's ability to function in work and social situations. Furthermore, current medications for schizophrenia do not treat the cognitive deficits of the disorder.

"We are searching for new ways to treat these aspects of the illness, and now research is increasingly suggesting that physical exercise can provide a solution," the researchers said.

They pointed out that these results ‘present the first large-scale evidence supporting the use of physical exercise to treat the neurocognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia'.

"Using exercise from the earliest stages of the illness could reduce the likelihood of long-term disability, and facilitate full, functional recovery for patients," they added.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Schizophrenia Bulletin.