Wanna Dance?
Full disclosure: Yes, this is another post on the benefits of physical activity, but I promise this one is juicier.
So, it is old news that physical activity has enormous benefits for your physical and mental health. And yet, how often do we actually take the time to do this? For us MSBS students, the last thing we probably care about is taking care of our bodies. Some of us (me) may have tried to join a sports club or force a friend to go to the gym. The idea is to find something fun and stick with it. Yet not everyone is able to find something they truly enjoy as a form of exercise and this can lead to a great loss of motivation. But the amazing thing about the human body is that, no matter what kind of activity we do, as long as it gets our blood pumping a little harder and our muscles consuming glycogen, we will gain some of these benefits every health care worker loves to babble about. So, here’s an idea, have you ever considered dancing?
Turns out dancing can be really good for us. A recent study investigated the benefits of dancing on the lipid composition of postmenopausal women (Teixeira et al., 2021). The researchers utilized a 16-week intervention in which participants performed a dancing activity for 60 minutes 3 times per week. The results showed positive changes in lipid composition and cholesterol levels with a positive change in the good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol, which we now know the reasons for their given connotations (thank you Dr. Streifel). Further physiological benefits included improved agility, coordination, strength and flexibility, all of which are known to decrease in the aging populations and to a different degree in postmenopausal women, who we now know, are not small men (thank you Dr. Campisi). In addition to this, researchers of the study were also interested in the psychological impact of dancing and found significant improvements in self-esteem, and general well-being (Teixeira et al., 2021). While the data obtained came from a very specific group of individuals and generalization is limited, I think it is still worth giving it a shot.
So next time you’re looking for something new and fun, maybe do a little bit of salsa dancing. I highly recommend El Preso by Fruko y Sus Tesos.
Teixeira, G. R., Veras, A., Rocha, A., Chedid, S. S., Freitas Júnior, I. F., Neto, R., Gobbo, L. A., & Buonani, C. (2021). Dance practice modifies functional fitness, lipid profile, and self-image in postmenopausal women. Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 28(10), 1117–1124. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1097/GME.0000000000001818
This was a super interesting read, thanks Steff! When reading about the benefits of dance I did some of my own research and came across an interesting article emphasizing some of the further benefits of dance as well. In a study run by Dr. Robert Katzman, individuals who were engaged in dance and danced frequently were found to, in a very simple sense "be smarter," as referred to by the author. I found a super simplified article of these findings indicating that dance can maintain and improve upper level brain functioning in older individuals with one study finding a 76% reduced risk of dementia. In this article, Dr. Katzman hypothesized that dancing helps improve neuronal synapses, leading to improved synaptic plasticity and overall improved brain health. For further information or to see these hypotheses please view the following article: https://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm.
ReplyDeleteHi Danielle,
DeleteThank you for your comment! This is actually super interesting. I looked further into different studies looking at the benefits of dance interventions on cognitive functioning. I found a recent study that investigated the effects dancing on the cognitive levels of an elderly population. Here researchers tried to find a correlation between improved cognition led by levels of cognitive reserves (CR) (Mitterová et al, 2021). These reserves are basically the ability of our neural networks to modify and compensate for the aging brain tissues. Researchers obtained some good data linking these two. This was a pretty interesting study that shed some light on the amazing ways our brains can overcome natural challenges.
Mitterová, K., Lamoš, M., Mareček, R., Pupíková, M., Šimko, P., Grmela, R., Skotáková, A., Vaculíková, P., & Rektorová, I. (2021). Dynamic Functional Connectivity Signifies the Joint Impact of Dance Intervention and Cognitive Reserve. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 13, 724094. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.3389/fnagi.2021.724094