Yes, dancing can make us smarter

We all know that it is fun, but, do you know that there’s so much more to dancing?

For centuries, we have known that dancing is a good social and physical and activity. It is a way to keep us cheerful and fit whatever our age, shape and size. Doctors have also acknowledged it as good for our heart and lungs, muscular strength, endurance and motor fitness. Dancing is also noted for increasing our aerobic fitness, improving our muscle tone and strength, benefitting our weight management, strengthening our bones and reducing our risk of osteoporosis. Moreover, it boosts our coordination, agility and flexibility and improves balance and spatial awareness.

In the study conducted by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City whose results were published in the article in the New England Journal

of Medicine, they found out that of 469 community dwelling elderly more than 75 years of age, specific cognitive or mental and physical activities were associated with a lower risk of dementia over a median observation period of 5 years. The group observed the effects of cognitive or mental activities like reading books or newspapers, doing crossword puzzles, playing board games or cards, writing for pleasure, playing a musical instrument, and participating in group discussions and physical activities such as swimming, bicycling, walking, playing tennis or golf, playing team games, participating in group exercise and dancing. Among the cognitive leisure activities associated with decreased risk of dementia were reading, playing board games, and playing musical instruments. One of the surprises of the result of the study was that almost none of the physical activities appeared to offer any protection against dementia except dancing. For the benefit of golf players, less than 10 subjects played tennis or golf, so the effect of these activities on dementia was not assessed. Naturally, there can be cardiovascular benefits of physical activity but the focus of the study was not the heart or lungs or any other internal organs but the brain.

The scientists expected doing crossword puzzles to be highly positive, and it did, demonstrating a 47 percent lower risk of dementia. Reading showed 35 percent risk reduction. But to the researchers’ surprise, physical exercises such as playing golf, bicycling, and swimming demonstrated no risk reduction of dementia which means such activities had no effect at all. There was one important exception: the only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing. The finding showed in the conclusion that regularly engaging in social dancing lowered the seniors’ risk of dementia by a surprising 76 percent. This is not to say that the elderly stop exercising. The values of physical activities have been proven to promote general health and well-being and it does so to the brain by increasing neurotrophic factors (substances that support nerve cells).

There are now more studies looking at dance and cognitive performance. A recent one was conducted by the Memory Center of the St. Luke’s Institute for Neurosciences last year in a group of almost a hundred elderly with mild memory impairment. The question they asked in the study was “Does ballroom dancing have a significant and positive effect on the cognitive health status of Filipino elderly with mild memory impairment?” The study conducted in Marikina barangays has just concluded and results are likewise positive particularly in improving memory. Detailed results of this study will be made available in a future publication. Both studies add to the growing evidence that advance the theory on stimulating one’s brain by dancing can lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit. It also confirmed that dancing increases cognitive acuity even in late life.

The theory earlier presented by the researchers supports that social dance is an activity that activates and takes advantage of our brains’ neuroplasticity which is the brain’s ability to change, modify or create new connections as a result of constant use or experience. It allows us to adapt to our changing environment. The nerve cells in the brain regions which are critical to memory and cognitive function re-wire themselves or can make new connections for as long as they are used. When our brain cells begin to degenerate with age, our memory for words (like the names of people we know and love or our favorite places) often go first. This is because the neural pathway connected to that bit of stored information in our brain is disrupted, and so is the access to that piece of information. It’s like taking the same routine path through a forest and then one day unable to find access to that path as what happens in dementia. Persons with dementia can physically see their destination, they sometimes can’t figure out how to get there, because the brain network on how to find the path has been disrupted. In the researchers’ opinion, the key to avoiding this is to continually forge new neural networks and the way to do this is to constantly challenge the mind and force it to make split-second, rapid-fire decisions, the effect of which creates more complex network of neuronal synapses and building up greater brain reserves. In short, the more pathways the brain makes to process information stored in it, the more accessible that information becomes, and the less likely one forgets.

The researchers however emphasize that not all forms of dancing are challenging enough. For example, dance types that rely on retracing the same memorized steps will not form new connections in the brain. Improvement in cognitive function occur when something new is learned, something one has not done before. Ballroom dance, especially social partner dancing that involves coordination between two people – one leading and the other following, do not just follow preset steps but demands the ability to improvise – causes the very rapid-fire decision-making that forges new neural pathways. The dancers in the Einstein study showed that the most protection against dementia practiced were seen in those who engage in freestyle social dancing like foxtrot, waltz, swing, tango, and Latin dance, while the dance in the St. Luke’s study involved visualization, musicality exercise, improvisation and dance recall of disco reggae, cha cha cha, and samba.

There was a time when ballroom dancing was vogue. Unfortunately, times have changed and many of those dance floors frequented by urban socialites and hoi polloi alike had closed shop. Having known that it is both fun and favorable to our health, we can now get up and dance once again. Whatever our age and gender, it is always best to dance not only to enhance our social skills, physical confidence, general and psychological wellbeing; self-confidence and self-esteem and, most importantly memory.

For more information, please contact the St. Luke’s Memory Center at tel. no. 7230101/0301 ext 4727/5558 (Quezon City) or 7897700 ext 2019 (Global City).