Dancing Can Improve and Increase Mental Acuity

Most people know of the health benefits of dance, as it provides physical exercise. But there are further health benefits from dancing, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level, with its sense of well-being. Most recently it has been discovered that frequent dancing makes a person smarter!

You may have heard about the New England Journal of Medicine report on the effects of recreational activities on mental acuity in aging. The 21-year study of senior citizens, 75 and older, was led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study wanted to see if any physical or cognitive recreational activities influenced mental acuity. They discovered that some activities had a significant beneficial effect. Other activities had none.

They studied cognitive activities such as reading books, writing for pleasure, doing crossword puzzles, playing cards and playing musical instruments. And they studied physical activities like playing tennis or golf, swimming, bicycling, dancing, walking for exercise and doing housework.

One of the surprises of the study was that almost none of the physical activities appeared to offer any protection against dementia. There can be cardiovascular benefits of course, but the focus of this study was the mind.

There was one important exception: the only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.

If you feel that this scholarship can provide an opportunity for your own child or someone you know, please submit in an application for the Lisa Wells Scholarship. This is a community-based scholarship and the child who is nominated does not need to currently dance at UDA.

• Reading - 35% reduced risk of dementia
• Bicycling and swimming - 0%
• Doing crossword puzzles at least four days a week - 47%
• Playing golf - 0%
• Dancing frequently - 76%. That was the greatest risk reduction of any activity studied, cognitive or physical.

Why?

Dancers are the ultimate multi-taskers. Legs, feet, back, hips, arms, hands, eye line, expression, intention, quality…. dancers must think of several things at once and make it look effortless!

A dancer’s body awareness is unparalleled. Dancers are so finely tuned that we are acutely aware of any small changes in our body. We know more about anatomy than the average “normal” person!

Dancers will always win at a game of Memory. Learning choreography has been proven to have a positive effect on memory. Dancers must remember the counts and tiny details of several works at once, and our bodies are so smart that they will hang onto the memory of these for years and years!

Dancers are fast learners. The competitive nature of auditions and the dance industry means we must pick up choreography as quickly as possible. We are constantly training our brain to take on and retain small details and adapt to new ways of moving at a super-fast rate.

In a nutshell, it can’t be denied that dancing indeed makes one smarter. With the many studies that prove the cognitive benefits of dancing, it is time to put your dancing shoes on! Just remember: dance practice makes for perfect choreography, and most prominently, improved mental skills! Who says dancers aren’t SMART?