Isn't this perfectly logical, as dance has more complicated pattern of highly coordinated moves and in addition requires synchronization with the rhythm. I'd be much more interested in comparison of dance and some more complex fitness activity that requires high focus, say juggling the soccer ball or playing the table tennis or even jumping the rope.
Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
201–210 of 224 posts
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
The authors of the studies seem to believe that the "combination of physical activity and sensory enrichment" and “cognitive and coordinative demands” are the key ingredients. If this is the case then the results should also generalise to sports, which have an aspect of sensory enrichment and coordinative challenge. But I agree with you, it would be very interesting to actually find out what the “key ingredients” are…
It's only different for sports because all the coordinating (like of old the activites of hunting and war) applies to a single focus, the body is all maneouvered to the same mind state. In dance, you have to coordinate subtle muscles in precise ways. In sports, the precision is about the particular result you want (a stroke, a kick), but in dance, there are many goals and you need to mind whether your thigh muscle is holding up in just the proper, beautiful way, because the teacher and a knowing audience can tell, much like in musical performances, whether you are really achieving the coordination or faking, or being a beginner. The coordination in dance is of several (and I mean tens of body parts or muscles at the same time) parts having different purposes (supporting the movement, getting balance, showing off, giving impulse, etc) and the brain having to watch them all, all at once. It's much harder to dance beautifully than to swim or run or jump and throw a basketball beautifully, because in dance aesthetics is the primary source of goals for all those body parts, they have different roles or different relationships to the same melodies and harmonies playing over the dance.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#203I 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?
I taught a lot of different formats but the two that required any level of choreography even though I was more drill and athletic focused were step and cardio kickboxing (this was a decade ago).
I had a “bank” of 32 and 64 count combinations that I could just throw together on the fly and teaching a class became like driving. Once I memorized them and trained my body how to do them (my cp affects my left foot slightly and my left hand a lot) it was easy.
The other part is that I naturally have no rhythm. I could only teach to songs with heavy, consistent beats. You can buy premixed 32 count music but I ended up mixing my own using a program called Audacity that Adobe bought and turned into Audition.
Even then the only way I could mix music is by turning off the sound once I got near the mix point and mixing based on the waveforms.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lindy Hop? In the states the biggies are: Camp Hollywood (lotta pool time, lotta drinking) Lindy Focus (christmas -> new years, it's nuts) Nevermore (my personal favorite) Camp Jitterbug (used to be super relevent as the contest weekend event, sorta on the decline/ not sure) Lindyfest has some nice peeps at it Camp the biggest is Herrang in sweden, it's the lindy hop mecca trip. Also check out: https://www.swingplani…
I would not recommend a beginner start at Camp Hollywood. It’s a bit intense. Lindy on the Rocks in Denver is usually pretty good. There’s a huge swing dance community in the Front Range.
I respectfully disagree. They have a ton of beginner classes and a lot of opportunity to be exposed to contests and good live music.
Yeah the party scene is a bit nuts but you don't have to be a part of that.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#205If the postulated basis is correct and acts on a continuum, it wouldn't be a huge leap to think that doing physically challenging outdoor sports that require a high degree of reaction to constantly-changing surroundings would be even better than dancing. Sounds like a case for skiing, mountain biking, climbing, surfing, whitewater kayaking, etc.
I'd add trail running to that lisyy
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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?
I suspect they meant the former finding, i.e.: "volume increases in more brain areas, including the cingulate cortex, insula, corpus callosum and sensorimotor cortex"
That still doesn't make sense. They take it is a forgone conclusion that volume increases will _eventually_ result in cognitive benefits, but provide no evidence or sources to support that notion. Of course, it seems to intuitively make sense that "bigger brain means smarter", but in a science article I would imagine they would be more rigorous about substantiating things.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would disagree, dance requires an intimate letting go, while sports is a more mechanical shutting down. Dance is a sort of trance, and requires alot of letting go. This is very dance specific (almost anything you can say about dancing will be - since different dances can be as different from each other as curling is from powerlifting). I've been dancing Argentine tango for many years (have also taught it) and, fo…
Like you, my judgement was very subjective .. the dancing i had in mind was “for fun”, rather than a performance. How do you feel about the difference between dancing to have fun and dancing to preform or teach? How big is that difference would you say?
I dance social tango (as do the vast majority of tango dancers) so, except for teaching, all of my dancing is "for fun".
For some background - tango is an improvisational partner dance (no choreography), danced together with other couples on the floor (it can get very crowded). One person - usually the man - leads, the other person - usually the woman - follows (I'm a leader).
Teaching is pretty different from just dancing for fun. Not so much in that there is less thinking but because I think of different things. When dancing for fun, I mostly think about:
1) The music and how to interpret it by leading certain steps or moves and by varying the speed and the energy of our dancing.
2) The position of my partner - her orientation and offset in relation to me, which leg does she currently have her weight on, the amount of momentum in her movement, etc.
3) The emotion of my partner - does the embrace feel comfortable to her, is she barely keeping up with the steps, is she in the mood for something more technically demanding or does she seem happy dancing simple musically appropriate stuff in a snugly embrace.
4) The situation on the dance floor - how crowded it is, is there any available space that I can move into, where is my back turned to, so that I can see what's going on around me and protect my partner from rubbing against other dancers (these two are sometimes in opposition, so you often need to do a lot of turns).
There is no talking during the dance - all of this is felt through the embrace.
When teaching, the focus shifts:
1) I need to consciously think and verbalize my own movement in much more detail, as that part is somewhat automatic when I dance socially but needs to be explained now.
2) There is much more focus on what my partner did wrong, instead of seamlessly adjusting the dance to her "mistakes".
3) I don't put that much focus on interpreting the music creatively, but instead try to bring the concept I'm currently teaching into the dance in several different ways.
As for performances, I barely did any (only demonstration dances after the class, and absolutely no competition performances) so I can only say that, due to all eyes being on me and my partner, the thinking intensifies :) But ideally it wouldn't, except for purposefully putting the lesson material into the dance - it is a demonstration after all.
I also want to point out that tango is very personal and other people might not approach it in as analytical fashion. Especially the followers - some of this stuff does not apply to them at all and their focus is elsewhere.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
It wouldn't surprise me if some of the effect comes from two minds working together. Working with a computer is...different.
I don't feel like the people in the study were pair dancing . Or improvising. They were learning dance in a classroom setting. " Each block comprised the teaching of choreographies of five different genres: line dance, jazz dance, rock ‘n’ roll, Latin-American dance and square dance "
Student/teacher is more or less the same thing.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#209Novel behavior could increase plasticity. Whether that’s novel exercise, new dances, or brushing your teeth with the opposite hand.
Re: Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)
#210Novel behavior could increase plasticity. Whether that’s novel exercise, new dances, or brushing your teeth with the opposite hand.
The novelty is the important part IMHO