Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018) • Hacker News Board

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

#101

Post by pretendscholar » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:01 PM UTC

idclip wrote: post #36

skookum wrote: post #5

If 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 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. Sports has a goal, has focus, its very “in the head” (exceptions do exist ala japanese arts, martial arts comes close but not as it is largely implemented in the west.) Not saying no brain plasticity work takes place, but dance has an active emotional el…

The expression with respect to sports and thinking: "If you're thinking you're sinking." Has anyone on this site ever actually played a sport long enough to get good at it? Being good at most time sensitive tasks involves entering a flow state. You aren't thinking in the traditional sense.

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

#102

Post by ChuckMcM » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:02 PM UTC

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.

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

#103

Post by joshuamorton » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:02 PM UTC

klipt wrote: post #97

mikepurvis wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can be a competent partner/social dancer (swing, salsa, tango, waltz) in a few months of weekly instruction and practice (eg, attending dances).

I think followers can learn a lot faster because they're exposed to new moves all the time from leaders. For leaders to build up a good vocabulary of moves requires a lot more than weekly practice though.

It depends (also I switch roles but primarily lead), vocabulary takes time, but you can have really, really good dances with limited vocabulary and good fundamentals, and often people focus on moves over fundamentals.

And fundamentals as a lead can be learned by dancing with intention.

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

#104

Post by cosmojg » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:07 PM UTC

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…

Whereabouts are you? Are there any festivals you'd recommend in particular?

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

#105

Post by cutler » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:09 PM UTC

balfirevic wrote: post #40

idclip wrote: post #36

Earlier 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. Sports has a goal, has focus, its very “in the head” (exceptions do exist ala japanese arts, martial arts comes close but not as it is largely implemented in the west.) Not saying no brain plasticity work takes place, but dance has an active emotional el…

> 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…

I took-up Argentine Tango after several years of a debillitating back and neurological problem. I'd been going to physios, chiropracters and an Alexander therapist for a long time with no results but as soon as I began to learn tango, along with a regular exercise programme, the problem cleared-up. Even better, my new tango social scene soon became a major source of web dev clients.

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

#106

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:10 PM UTC

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 :-)

[deleted]

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

#107

Post by agumonkey » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:16 PM UTC

I consider dance the intersection of balance, efficiency / energy conservation and probably the abstract root of a lot of activities in life. Anything can be a chore, or an effort, but if you make it into a dance like action.. it becomes both easy and joyful. And it's also reaching social boundaries.. if you think work as a set of concurrent changes driven by agents.. dancing is basically the lowest energy level for that. Everything flows, momentum conserved, impedance free.. and surprisingly people are very happy seeing and living that way.

All that said... i'm not surprised it has a lot of leverage in our brain.

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

#108

Post by rdp3453 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:16 PM UTC

networkimprov wrote: post #68

ninjaturtlez wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you seriously not think that playing a sport requires control of your entire body? Have you ever tried to actively improve at a sport? Everything from basketball to golf is fine muscle control from the lowest to highest levels. Some people cant see their own bias I guess. :)

it == dancing && it != sport dancing.entails(entire_body) sport.entails(entire_body) Clearer now?

PR comments: - is this some kind of Shrodinger's "it", the second check is irrelevant - Needs indentation

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

#109

Post by balfirevic » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:18 PM UTC

cutler wrote: post #105

balfirevic wrote: post #40

Earlier 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…

I took-up Argentine Tango after several years of a debillitating back and neurological problem. I'd been going to physios, chiropracters and an Alexander therapist for a long time with no results but as soon as I began to learn tango, along with a regular exercise programme, the problem cleared-up. Even better, my new tango social scene soon became a major source of web dev clients.

I'm so glad every time I hear about someone discovering and enjoying tango!

Nice to hear that tango helped your back, although I'm a bit surprised as I've found that I need a some back exercise to relieve the stiffness that I get from dancing (although this happens only when dancing for multiple hours a day for several days, as you do on festivals).

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

#110

Post by evo_9 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 8:19 PM UTC

This is interesting; for the past 4 years as part of my workout I hop in VR for around 60 minutes. I typically play a mix of music while I play games like Space Pirate Trainer (highly movement oriented, my heat-rate stays at workout levels while playing). So I'm basically dancing around to music, dodging incoming fire, returning fire, etc... quite stimulating + athletic with eye/hand tracking etc. Perhaps this is doing more than a fun extra bit that's essentially my cool-down.