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Kick up your heels – ballroom dancing offers benefits to the aging brain and could help stave off dementia

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/helena-blumen-1231899">Helena Blumen</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/albert-einstein-college-of-medicine-3638">Albert Einstein College of Medicine</a></em></p> <h2>The big idea</h2> <p>Social ballroom dancing can improve cognitive functions and reduce brain atrophy in older adults who are at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. That’s the key finding of my team’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2022-0176">recently published study</a> in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity.</p> <p>In our study, we enrolled 25 adults over 65 years of age in either six months of twice-weekly ballroom dancing classes or six months of twice-weekly treadmill walking classes. None of them were engaged in formal dancing or other exercise programs.</p> <p>The overall goal was to see how each experience affected cognitive function and brain health.</p> <p>While none of the study volunteers had a dementia diagnosis, all performed a bit lower than expected on at least one of our dementia screening tests. We found that older adults that completed six months of social dancing and those that completed six months of treadmill walking improved their executive functioning – an umbrella term for planning, reasoning and processing tasks that require attention.</p> <p>Dancing, however, generated significantly greater improvements than treadmill walking on one measure of executive function and on processing speed, which is the time it takes to respond to or process information. Compared with walking, dancing was also associated with reduced brain atrophy in the hippocampus – a brain region that is key to memory functioning and is particularly affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers also know that this part of our brain can undergo neurogenesis – or grow new neurons – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0611721104">in response to aerobic exercise</a>.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/unmbhUvnGow?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows those who regularly dance with a partner have a more positive outlook on life.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>While several previous studies suggest that dancing has beneficial effects <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afaa270">on cognitive function in older adults</a>, only a few studies have compared it directly with traditional exercises. Our study is the first to observe both better cognitive function and improved brain health following dancing than walking in older adults at risk for dementia. We think that social dancing may be more beneficial than walking because it is physically, socially and cognitively demanding – and therefore strengthens a wide network of brain regions.</p> <p>While dancing, you’re not only using brain regions that are important for physical movement. You’re also relying on brain regions that are important for interacting and adapting to the movements of your dancing partner, as well as those necessary for learning new dance steps or remembering those you’ve learned already.</p> <h2>Why it matters</h2> <p>Nearly 6 million older adults in the U.S. and 55 million worldwide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2019.01.010">have Alzheimer’s disease</a> or a <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia">related dementia</a>, yet there is no cure. Sadly, the efficacy and ethics surrounding recently developed drug treatments <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2022.2129858">are still under debate</a>.</p> <p>The good news is that older adults can potentially <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30367-6">lower their risk for dementia</a> through lifestyle interventions, even later in life. These include reducing social isolation and physical inactivity.</p> <p>Social ballroom dancing targets both isolation and inactivity. In these later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a better understanding of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214211005223">indirect effects of COVID-19</a> – particularly those that increase dementia risk, such as social isolation – is urgently needed. In my view, early intervention is critical to prevent dementia from becoming the next pandemic. Social dancing could be a particularly timely way to overcome the adverse cognitive and brain effects associated with isolation and fewer social interactions during the pandemic.</p> <h2>What still isn’t known</h2> <p>Traditional aerobic exercise interventions such as treadmill-walking or running have been shown to lead to modest but reliable improvements in cognition – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617707316">particularly in executive function</a>.</p> <p>My team’s study builds on that research and provides preliminary evidence that not all exercise is equal when it comes to brain health. Yet our sample size was quite small, and larger studies are needed to confirm these initial findings. Additional studies are also needed to determine the optimal length, frequency and intensity of dancing classes that may result in positive changes.</p> <p>Lifestyle interventions like social ballroom dancing are a promising, noninvasive and cost-effective path toward staving off dementia as we – eventually – leave the COVID-19 pandemic behind.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194969/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/helena-blumen-1231899">Helena Blumen</a>, Associate Professor of Medicine and Neurology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/albert-einstein-college-of-medicine-3638">Albert Einstein College of Medicine</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/kick-up-your-heels-ballroom-dancing-offers-benefits-to-the-aging-brain-and-could-help-stave-off-dementia-194969">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Mind

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Strictly Ballroom producer’s hottest property hits the market

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just two years after dropping a record-setting $10.25 million on a Rose Bay apartment, film producer Antoinette “Popsy” Albert has put her historic Bellevue Hill property up for sale in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The asking price is expected to be a high one, with </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/film-producer-popsy-albert-lists-bellevue-hill-house-inhigh-20-million-range-1106705/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">some sources</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> saying it could be within the “high $20 million range”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Designed by architect Espie Dods in the 1980s, the five-bedroom home features five bathrooms, several formal and informal living rooms, dining areas and a loggia (a covered seated area) that spills out into the garden.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The home also boasts a custom theatre, next door to a wine cellar, and one of its bedrooms acts as a self-contained apartment.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 1400-square-metre property is nestled among some of Bellevue’s most famed homes, all found on Ginahgulla Road. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The co-producer of Baz Luhrman’s </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Strictly Ballroom</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.domain.com.au/10-ginahgulla-road-bellevue-hill-nsw-2023-2017435033" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">listed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the home with Christie’s realtor Ken Jacobs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Albert and her late husband, music producer Ted Albert, purchased the home in 1982 for $825,000 from the estate of late racehorse owner Allan Lewis.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Images: Getty Images, Domain</span></em></p>

Real Estate

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103-year-old man will ballroom dance until he falls over

<p>Karl Tinggaard, 103, is a dedicated ballroom dancer and spends every Thursday night showing off his moves.</p> <p>Karl isn’t letting age slow him down and he has no plans to take a week from impressing his dancing partners at the Murray Heritage Center in Murray, Utah.</p> <p>“I'm just an ordinary man who's had a long, wonderful life," the inspirational man said. “I can't remember one year in my life that was not wonderful."</p> <p>Karl was born five months before World War I in 1914. He said he learnt his dancing moves growing up in Denmark and that now he just lets his feet follow the music when he steps on the dancefloor.</p> <p>The program coordinator at the Murray Heritage Center Maureen Gallagher said, “He's a real pistol. He loves the women. It's really something because you can't think he's 103 and still moving so well."</p> <p>Karl outlived his wife of 55 years and his daughter but he still strives to enjoy the beauty that life has to offer him.</p> <p>"I don't have a dance partner anymore. I had one nine years," he said. "So she died. Then I had another dance partner three years and she died and so I said to myself, 'If they die from dancing with me, I might as well not have a partner.'"</p> <p>Karl explained that his secret to living a long life and staying healthy is laughing.</p> <p>"For every minute you laugh, you extend your life for one hour," he said. "And I am laughing a lot."</p> <p>When asked how long Karl plans to keep up his ballroom dancing Karl said, “Until I fall over. Until I simply can't do it anymore.”</p> <p>Karl is described by his fellow dancers as brightening up the dance floor and he is usually the first to arrive and the last person to leave the center. </p>

Retirement Life

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Meet the retiree cruising the world as a ballroom dancer

<p>In 1993, Jim Longino found a newspaper column advertising an unbeatable deal on luxury cruises – low fares in exchange for work as a “dance host”, available to dance with women who didn’t have a partner. It was the perfect job for the ex-soldier, who had been trained in ballroom dancing as a young man. There was just one problem – he had forgotten many of the dance moves he was expected to perform!</p> <p>“I just faked it,” the now-88-year-old told the <a href="http://www.clarionledger.com/story/magnolia/2016/07/28/cruise-ship-dancer-learns-new-steps-retirement/87563560/" target="_blank"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Clarion Ledger</span></em></strong></a>. “The ladies didn’t know the difference.”</p> <p>But that was just his first cruise. Upon returning to shore, Longino began taking dance classes, improving his skills before setting off to sea again and again. His “work” took him to Australia and New Zealand, as well as all over Europe and America.</p> <p>There were no days off for the retiree, who had mornings off and a two-hour break in the evening for dinner. In the afternoons he gave lessons to passengers, and at 6.30pm it was his time to shine. “You had to be careful to zero in on the single women,” Longino said. “Some of the husbands would allow you to dance with their wives.” However, he was under strict instructions never to start a relationship with the passengers or risk being asked to leave the ship.</p> <p>During his spare time, Longino was free to do whatever he wanted, just like a regular passenger. He spent his free hours at the gym, the pool, even taking shore excursions.</p> <p>Longino’s all-dancing, all-cruising adventure lasted around ten years before he was sadly forced to leave due to the Recession. These days, he’s still as fancy-footed as ever, dancing his way around studios in Jackson, Mississippi, and credits his time at sea with keeping him young and even preventing Alzheimer’s. “It has kept me alive.”</p> <p>What a lucky man! Tell us in the comment section below, what would you love to accomplish in retirement?</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/07/5-juicy-confessions-from-cruise-crewmembers/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>5 juicy confessions from cruise crewmembers</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/07/why-more-and-more-people-are-retiring-on-a-cruise/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em>Why more and more people are retiring on a cruise</em></strong></span></a></p> <p><a href="/travel/cruising/2016/07/8-of-the-strangest-things-witnessed-by-cruise-goers/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>8 of the strangest things witnessed by cruise-goers</strong></em></span></a></p>

Cruising

Over 60

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