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)

#131

Post by WmyEE0UsWAwC2i » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 9:37 PM UTC

As a data analyst, I once took an introductory class to modern dance. 5 sessions during one week. I though I was trained, I did calystecnics and yoga.

The class included "floor work" similar but no limited to [1].

It was hard. I received a lot of feed back from the instructor, but of course I didn't achieve that amount of grace.

Very worth trying if you want to experience learning something new and challenging.

Incidentally, this is one area where there are many more females than males. 2¢.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jHrR8vy3OM

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

#132

Post by virtue3 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 9:51 PM UTC

cosmojg wrote: post #104

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?

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.swingplanit.com/

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

#133

Post by pizza234 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 9:56 PM UTC

CalChris wrote: post #95

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 :-)

Dance certainly helped my basketball (when I played) but basketball did not help my dance.

I've attended a workshop of a world-known dancer. They were saying that some dancers who got good quickly, were sports people prior to dancing.

I personally support this theory; ultimately, in a very basic form, both dance and sport are grounded on physical coordination.

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

#134

Post by SergeAx » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

Two anecdotes from 10+ years argentinian tango dancer.

1. I dance leading part, and I found myself more self-confident in my engineering leader and manager work. Giving team a direction became more organic and easy. I actually had to start restraining myself to motivate people's creativity. It is actually kind of dance move too: stand still and give my follower firm support to decorate her part with small movements with music.

2. One of my fellow partners is playing intellectual games (local franchise of "Jeopardy!" and several others). She says her performance degrades with her progress in tango, because the follower's part in tango is to listen and not to step by her own, but only when and where the leader leads.

I also believe in neuroplasticity and overall positive impact of creating and cohesion of neural links.

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

#135

Post by pizza234 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 10:01 PM UTC

AareyBaba wrote: post #121

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).

Swing/lindy, west coast swing, waltz maybe. But it takes at least a year to become a good salsa dancer and Argentine tango even longer. The difference in these dances is the level of coupling (no pun intended) between the lead and follower. In Argentine tango both dancers meld into one moving unit and the brain has to learn how to do that.

It's unclear what the parent intends with "competent", and also not clear what "weekly" means (once a week? three times? daily?).

I've been an amateur dancer for years, and definitely, for what I personally intend for "competent", it takes 2/3 years at least, with multiple times per week of practice, a few workshops every year etc.etc.

There's certainly some people who dance pretty much daily and gets good in less than an year, some people with background in physical activities (sports or arts) who also get good quickly... but they're exceptions.

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

#136

Post by lrmunoz » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 10:05 PM UTC

cik2e wrote: post #115

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 coordinat…

I don't know why this comment got downvoted. I personally thing there is so much truth in it.

I practice Olympic lifting (total beginner) and I have to concentrate so much during exercises. Take for instance the snatch movement [1] which is my personal favorite and one of the hardest (in my opinion)

Also I find weightlifting very addictive: when you do the movement successfully is very rewarding. When you get it wrong you can't wait to try again next time

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqWYvGDIRwE

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

#137

Post by pizza234 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 10:07 PM UTC

roywiggins wrote: post #91

WalterBright wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's too bad most people who try partner dancing don't stick it out long enough to break through the awkward stage to where it gets to be a lot of fun.

I think that's true for most hobbies, though. It's easy to bounce off anything that takes a bit of skill, because it can be a fairly large time commitment for an unknown payoff.

I've done lots of activies, including sports and dance, and some activities simply have a higher barrier than others.

Partner dancing - at least leading - is definitely on the higher side :-)

There are several factors. Leaders must endure months where they can do little or nothing, and they have to do it among people who always look great - if they social dance; if they don't, their learning time increases.

Then there's a lot of pressure of performing with and for somebody who's usually of the opposite sex (this applies also to follows).

It takes a lot (internally) before feeling comfortable enough to "simply enjoy".

Playing an instrument or practicing an individual sport doesn't have such pressures.

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

#138

Post by pizza234 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 10:15 PM UTC

cooliosis wrote: post #67

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. :)

I think it's easier to be less aware of your entire body while practicing for other sports. As someone who plays basketball and tennis, it takes a lot of focus to pay attention to my whole body for an entire practice session (vs. just a single part that I'm trying to improve). Most of the time, if I don't explicitly try to pay attention, I just use muscle memory and try to get into "the zone". In tennis for example,…

My experience is different. In both sports and dances, I've always been asked/required to pay attention to the entire body. For example, in climbing, it's a mechanical necessity, while in table tennis, it's required for efficiency and power.

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

#139

Post by WalterBright » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

pizza234 wrote: post #137

roywiggins wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's true for most hobbies, though. It's easy to bounce off anything that takes a bit of skill, because it can be a fairly large time commitment for an unknown payoff.

I've done lots of activies, including sports and dance, and some activities simply have a higher barrier than others. Partner dancing - at least leading - is definitely on the higher side :-) There are several factors. Leaders must endure months where they can do little or nothing, and they have to do it among people who always look great - if they social dance; if they don't, their learning time increases. Then ther…

The dance coach I knew refused to video his students until they had reached a certain level of competence, because if it was too soon they'd be horrified at how they looked dancing and would quit.

Video is a brutal but effective teacher for those who are not easily discouraged.

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

#140

Post by pizza234 » Sat, Jul 25, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

ComputerGuru wrote: post #51

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.

One benefit dance has is being low risk, especially for someone that might be in a partially compromised state.

I'd qualify using "lower" rather than "low". There's actually plenty of injury also in dancing, in particular, to knees and backs.