5 incredible things that happen in your brain when you dance
Why? Because you do a lot of good while dancing! And not only on the legs! Indeed, dance is more than just a fun activity to share with friends or your partner. It also has the amazing ability to improve brain function.
You don’t believe me?
So, here are the 5 incredible things that happen in your brain when you dance regularly:
1. Dance improves neuroplasticity
A study conducted by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, was conducted for 21 years and focused on people aged 75 and over. Researchers measured the mental acuity of subjects during this aging period by monitoring dementia rates. The objective of the study was to determine whether physical or cognitive recreational activities had an effect on mental acuity.
The only exception was the practice of dancing.
Here are the results of the study according to the activity: –
Reading: 35% risk in less dementia –
Play golf: 0% risk reduction in less dementia –
Dancing frequently: 76% risk in less dementia
People who dance regularly have greater cognitive abilities and increased complexity of neuronal synapses said neurologist Dr. Robert Katzman.
Dance, therefore, reduces the risk of dementia by improving neuronal capacity. It helps the brain to continually reconnect its neural pathways. As a result, dance improves the neuroplasticity of the brain.
2. Dance makes you smarter
What is meant by intelligence?
If our response to a given situation is automatic (the stimulus-response relationship is automatic), we say that it is a proof of intelligence.
When the brain evaluates various possibilities of reasonable responses and deliberately chooses an answer, this process is considered intelligence.
Jean Piaget said that intelligence is what we use when we are faced with a problem and we do not know how to solve it.
For simplicity, the essence of intelligence is knowing how to make decisions. To improve your mental acuity, it is best to get involved in an activity that requires quick decision-making in a split second.
Dance is an example of an activity that requires rapid decision-making.
It requires instant answers to questions such as “What to do” or “When to turn”? “How fast should I move?” Or “how should I react to my partner’s movements?”
Dance is a great way to maintain and improve your intelligence.
3. Dance improves your muscle memory
According to this study, which analyzed the benefits of dance on the brain, dancers are able to perform complex movements more easily when they experience the process of “marking”.
What is the “marking” process? It’s simply making movements slowly by recording them during rehearsals.
Researcher Edward Warburton, a former professional ballet dancer, and his colleagues examined what we think about when we dance.
They published their findings in the journal Psychological Science. They found that tagging reduces the conflict between the cognitive and physical aspects of dance.
This gives the dancers a chance to memorize and repeat the movements with greater fluidity, almost mechanically.
It has been concluded that visualization of movement and staining can help improve muscle memory. This type of visualization and marking, learned through dance, can also be used in many areas of everyday life and thus improve performance.
4. Dance slows down aging and stimulates memory
Dr. Katzman thinks that the more complex our neuronal synapses are, the better.
He also thinks that we should do everything we can to create new synapses on a daily basis. And of course, dancing is a great way to do it! As you get older, brain cells die and synapses become weaker. For example, people’s names are harder to remember. Normal, because there is only one neural path that leads us to this information stored in the brain.
But if you learn new things, like doing dance, you will work on building new mental paths. So, if a mental path is lost because of old age, you will have another recently created, which will take over and that will allow you to access the information and memories in your memory.
5. Dance helps prevent dizziness
Have you ever wondered why ballet dancers are never stunned when they do a lot of pirouettes? Survey result that through years of training, dancers develop the ability to suppress signals from balance organs in the inner ear.
Dr. Barry Seemungal explains this phenomenon by the fact that it is not “useful” for dancers to feel dizzy or unbalanced. It’s the opposite.
The result, over the years, the brains of the dancers adapts and removes this feeling that is useless. Therefore, the signal in the brain responsible for dizziness is minimized, allowing the dancers to be resistant to the sensation of dizziness.
If you suffer from vertigo, it is, therefore, useful to regularly practice any form of dance to alleviate this concern. Dancing helps to improve this function in your cerebellum, which in turn will help you improve your balance and make you less subject to vertigo.
In conclusion
Do not worry, no need to be a good dancer to enjoy the benefits of this sport. The simple act of dancing, whatever your level, you will be beneficial!
Result As you can see, dancing is a great way to maintain and enhance the many functions of our brain. In fact, dance increases our neuronal connectivity because it stimulates several functions of the brain at once: rational, musical, kinesthetic and emotional functions. This enhancement of neuronal connectivity is very important to our brain especially when it gets older.
You now know what you have to do! Dance more often and more regularly 🙂