Did you know you can dance to fight brain aging?True, dance, in addition to being an excellent exercise for the body, also exercises our minds. A fun way to keep our brain agile, no matter how old you are.
In fact, for the elderly, dance is one of the best ways to maintain the balance between body and mind. In addition, physical activity in general and dance in particular can help reverse signs of brain aging at this stage.
“There are shortcuts to happiness, and dance is one of them. “- Vicki Baum-
As we age, several changes occur in the brain, including decreased brain tissue, decreased blood flow, and decreased communication between cells. All of these changes interfere with cognitive functioning, especially learning and memory.
Several studies have suggested that physical activity in adulthood may help delay cognitive decline associated with the passage of time, in this regard, a study published in the journal Neurology found a direct relationship between regular exercise of medium to high intensity and slower memory and thinking capacity. over the age of 50.
However, doing medium to high intensity exercises isn’t very attractive to many, especially from the age of 50, is it?The good news is that there are effective ways to exercise while fighting brain aging that don’t involve going to the gym or exercising. in running shoes, such as dancing, this is what guarantees the new study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience magazine.
This study included 52 healthy adults from 63 to 80 years old; each participant was randomly divided between one of the two possible groups over 18 months; One group was ordered to participate in a 90-minute dance class during this period, while the other group required to participate in strength and endurance training that would also last 90 minutes per week.
To indicate that physical activity varied in both groups as well, while the dance group faced new routines each week, the other group’s strength and endurance training activities were repetitive.
In the dance group there were constant changes in routine and every two weeks steps, arm patterns, training, speed and pace were changed to keep participants in a constant learning process, so the most difficult aspect for participants was to remember routines under the pressure of the watch and without any help from the instructor , exactly as indicated by the researchers.
At the start of the study and at the end (after 18 months), each participant underwent an MRI of the brain. In addition, the balance of participants before and after the intervention was evaluated through a sensory organization test.
Researchers noted that both groups showed an increase in the volume of the hippocampus, but among those who danced, the increase was greater. Only the people who danced showed growth in neural connections in the dented convolution, the region of the brain associated with learning. , memory and emotion, and which is also the region most affected by age-related brain changes.
Researchers believe that the continuous learning process involved in dance can explain the additional benefits. In fact, the team found that the dance also resulted in significant improvements in participants’ balance, while the strength and endurance training group did not record such progress.
Researchers explain that the group that danced for 18 months showed increases in parts of the hippocampus, while these changes were not observed in the other group. This indicates that, in addition to the physical condition, other factors inherent in dance also contribute to changes in the volume of the hippocampus.
For this reason, the researchers claim that additional challenges in the dance program, such as cognitive and sensorymotor stimulation, for example, have caused changes in the volume of the hippocampus, in addition to those attributed only to physical form in general.
They leave a reminder that physical activity is one of the elements that should be part of the lifestyle and contribute to an independent and healthy life that lasts as long as possible, as it helps prevent risk factors and slow down age-related deterioration. For this reason, dance is a powerful tool, capable of proposing new challenges for the body and mind, especially in old age.