Dancing lessons can slow brain disease
DANCING could help stave off cognitive decline in Parkinson’s patients, a study has found.
More than 160,000 people in the UK are living with Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder where nerve cells in the brain stop producing chemicals, causing tremors and stiffness.
Now researchers at York University in Toronto say they may have found a simple way to fight – and potentially even reverse – cognitive decline.
Following a group of people with Parkinson’s who attended a weekly dance class over six years, they found those who regularly danced experienced less decline.
A sample 75-minute class would involve a seated warm-up, followed by exercises at the barre and, finally, floorwork dances.
One group was also taught a specific choreography in preparation for a performance.
A short assessment of motor
‘It is physical, mental and social all at once’
function and a cognitive questionnaire was given to each participant before and after every dance class.
Over six years of monitoring, the researchers found that the cognitive scores for the 43 patients in the dance group had improved compared to the 28 patients in the reference group, where they saw no changes or a slight decline.
York University researcher Simran Rooprai, lead author of the study, believes it shows that dance could help with cognitive preservation and even improvement of Parkinson’s symptoms. ‘We can’t really fix the brain, but we’re trying to show that with dance, maybe we can delay the onset of further cognitive decline,’ he says.
‘Dance engages many parts of the brain. While dancing, you’re listening to music, learning new steps, remembering the different sequences, and you’re engaging with other dancers so you’re aware of your surroundings.
‘Dance is physical, mental and social all at once.’
The researchers are now working on a follow-up study to examine how working memory is affected for people with Parkinson’s taking weekly dance classes. The study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.