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Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

journals.plos.org

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Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

#111

Post by quickthrower2 »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #102
networkimprov wrote: post #52

I've been a dancer for 30 years, of many forms. The best way I can describe dancing to non-practitioners is that it's like playing a silent, wearable musical instrument that demands attention from your entire body. It is not like playing a sport, except perhaps if you do it competitively :-)

That is an excellent analogy, it is similar to martial arts and Tai Chi. That said, professional athletes I've known pay a lot of attention to their specific form when doing actions to minimize energy and maximize power. It appears to me to be the difference between actively managing how your body moves versus just letting it do what ever to get the action done.

I would guess Yoga is good for this too then. And I imagine if this this the case "drunken night club dancing" might not count - you would need to deliberately practice dancing?

Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

#112

Post by xdavidliu »

hannob wrote: post #50

Looking at this: "Dancing compared to conventional fitness activity led to larger volume increases in more brain areas, including the cingulate cortex, insula, corpus callosum and sensorimotor cortex. Only dancing was associated with an increase in plasma BDNF levels. Regarding cognition, both groups improved in attention and spatial memory, but no significant group differences emerged. The latter finding may indicat…

> The latter finding may indicate that cognitive benefits may develop later and after structural brain changes have taken place."

I'm confused by this part. How does the "latter finding" indicate that benefits may develop later? The "latter finding" is that there hasn't been any benefits yet. Does that suggest anything whatsoever about what will happen later?

Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

#113

Post by ChuckMcM »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #111
ChuckMcM wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is an excellent analogy, it is similar to martial arts and Tai Chi. That said, professional athletes I've known pay a lot of attention to their specific form when doing actions to minimize energy and maximize power. It appears to me to be the difference between actively managing how your body moves versus just letting it do what ever to get the action done.

I would guess Yoga is good for this too then. And I imagine if this this the case "drunken night club dancing" might not count - you would need to deliberately practice dancing?

I would guess that a good follow on paper would be to look at any activity which involved active kinematic management of the body to see if it had similar markers.

Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

#114

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

Just an anecdote, but I was at a wedding where I talked with a retirement age neurologist. He basically said the same thing. It didn't surprise me that later he and his wife were out on the dance floor start to finish, outlasting most of the 20 year olds, and dancing everything from tango to hip hop. Put a real smile on a lot of people's faces.

Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

#115

Post by cik2e »

networkimprov wrote: post #52

I've been a dancer for 30 years, of many forms. The best way I can describe dancing to non-practitioners is that it's like playing a silent, wearable musical instrument that demands attention from your entire body. It is not like playing a sport, except perhaps if you do it competitively :-)

Here are just a few examples of sports that require continuous attention from your entire body in response to an external stimulus:

Snowboarding, downhill skiing, mountain biking, and any martial art. These are from personal experience, I’m sure there are plenty of other examples.

Even weight training, which is an experimental group in this article, when done properly, requires high levels of neuro-muscular coordination and development. I am always weary of studies that evaluate “strength training” because there are so many different approaches with wildly different outcomes. Let’s just say that a max effort squat by an athlete with around two years of proper training emphasizing technique requires a hell of a lot more coordination than busting a move on the dance floor. I’ve been weight training for 15 years and I still feel like I am learning something new every time I get under the bar with the right mindset. The mindset part is key, because if you are just going through the motions then you’re not developing new skills. But I would bet a lot of money that top level strength athletes would say that their form is far from “perfect” and that this the area that affords the biggest opportunity for improvement.

This is the part where I’m going to be brash. Unless you tell me exactly what defines a strength training regimen in your study, I will assume it’s something along the lines of curls and lunges done with tiny dumbbells over a large amount of reps. Especially if your study calls it “repetitive”. There’s nothing repetitive about proper strength training. Every rep that’s done mindfully affords a unique learning opportunity.

Sports simply too complex to categorize in simple terms like “dancing” or “resistance training”. In the context of experimental design, our definitions have to be much more precise.

Having said all that, this is how I interpret this article: “Learning complex motor skills that require high levels of attention is better for the brain than doing 100 curls with 3 lb dumbbells.” And my response to that is “no shit”.

Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

#118

Post by dokem »

Weight lifting is better for making you more attractive and confident. If you are in good shape men and women will both take notice. Not everything's about squeezing out that last IQ point. I enjoy dancing, don't get me wrong, but weightlifting is the obvious choose when it comes to quality of life improvement. I used to run a lot too, no one gives a shit about your 5 minute mile and no one is impressed by your skinny body. Weightlifting; dudes figured it out 80 years ago.

Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

#119

Post by joshuamorton »

gnramires wrote: post #59
Johnjonjoan wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can totally see your point. Which makes me wonder... Is dance superior to repetitive exercise for seasoned dancers, or are they actually the same thing?

There are many kinds of dance and styles. I guess the main ways to divide could be a) Partner dance b) Group dance, and a') Choreography b') Improvisation. Even for seasoned dancers there is a lot to offer in all of those. In partner dance you have to watch and adapt to your partner all the time (no matter the skill level). In choreography you of course have to learn new programs and execute them well (displaying the…

You missed solo dance as c). Lots of hip hop is solo or semi solo, as are things like solo Charleston.

Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

#120

Post by dumb1224 »

hannob wrote: post #50

Looking at this: "Dancing compared to conventional fitness activity led to larger volume increases in more brain areas, including the cingulate cortex, insula, corpus callosum and sensorimotor cortex. Only dancing was associated with an increase in plasma BDNF levels. Regarding cognition, both groups improved in attention and spatial memory, but no significant group differences emerged. The latter finding may indicat…

Fellow lindy hopper here too. Yes the communities around the world have been hit hard. Social dancing is unfortunately an ideal setup for the virus to spread. I share your hope and look forward to dancing again.
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