Is yoga approximately the same? What of physical therapy?
Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
171–180 of 224 posts
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#172Looking 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…
My first dance teacher used to refer to a similar study from 10 years ago in NEJM ( https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa022252); his commentary is at https://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm But yeah, getting into lindy hop 15 years ago was literally the best thing that ever happened to me. It's incredible, being able to go to any major city on the planet and instantly finding a community.
...to any major city with modern values. While I share the sentiment with you :)
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#173I'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 :-)
Sounds a lot like jiu jitsu, which I find to be an amazing workout both mentally and physically.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m an (international level) competitive ballroom dancer and a martial artist of 15 years and there’s a lot of overlap between the two. And it’s really valuable to me as a software engineer - at the very least it forces me out of my chair at 6.30pm 5 days a week to go to the studio, when otherwise I could easily find myself working 12-14 hours days because I am “in the zone” (which is easy for me to do because of the…
Why ballroom and not Tango? I find Tango pairs much more naturally to martial arts.
Not op but I guess it depends. E.g. I know aikido, salsa (ny and Cuban), bachata, kizomba and tango. For me NY salsa looks the most martial artsy.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#175My grandma used to go dancing at the VFW every weekend up until I think shortly after her 95th birthday. She fell at a dance and broke her arm. She had lived on her own until then, but moved to a nursing home while her arm healed and then decided to just stay after she got better.
Her memory has definitely gone downhill since she moved there, which could just be age. But I also feel like the physical activity and social aspect of always going out to dance helped keep her going longer than she otherwise would have.
Hard to say I guess.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well if you know anyone in New York I’d be happy to take a recommendation for a WC teacher. I tested positive for the sars-cov-2 antibodies already, so I’m not as worried about being around people at this point of the pandemic (within reason).
Go for it! Not personally, but I have a rough idea by now about who knows what out there. This looks like a good start to me: https://sifuchowwingchun.com/
Thanks!
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#177I'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 :-)
> It is not like playing a sport, except perhaps if you do it competitively :-)
Or if you're into hi-tech trance or frenchcore ;)
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
My first dance teacher used to refer to a similar study from 10 years ago in NEJM ( https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa022252); his commentary is at https://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm But yeah, getting into lindy hop 15 years ago was literally the best thing that ever happened to me. It's incredible, being able to go to any major city on the planet and instantly finding a community.
...to any major city with modern values. While I share the sentiment with you :)
I knew someone teaching it in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#179Looking 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…
Someone else already pointed out that this is actually quite significant, just the time might have been too short but there is clear indication something is there. For me the key question is: what is the key ingredient (or the right mix of ingredients)? E.g. is it having a programme to follow (having aims/duties is known to increase longevity, see the famous 'plant study')? Or rhythmic fluid movements (so like tai ch…
May I ask what the “plant study” you are referring to is?
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#180I can definitely see this. I have very mild Cerebral Palsy. I can run and end up in the middle of the pack in most races and sometimes in the top 3 or four for my age group (pre-Covid). I even taught fitness classes about a decade ago. But trying to learn a dance move or take someone else’s choreography heavy exercise class was like trying to understand a second language when you are first learning it. I had to trans…
This is interesting. Once you had a set of moves 'down', could you execute them accurately on a pretty consistent basis? At that point... I know dancing requires focus, but once learned was it still more mentally taxing/draining than other well-rehearsed activities?