Dancing and brain health

Dancing appears to affect the brain in ways that extend beyond mental health conditions.

One of the benefits of physical activity is that it enhances executive function and attention, processing speed, and memory. Dancing involves both a mental effort and social interaction.

• Regular dancing can help prevent cognitive decline as we age and is associated with a reduced risk of dementia.”
• It can offer cardiovascular benefits by increasing your heart rate, it can help strengthen the lower and upper extremities through repeated muscle contractions, and it can challenge coordination and balance.

The reasons are plentiful, mostly involving motivation and time. And herein lies the beauty of dance.

Estimates suggest that people can burn about 200 calories in 30 minutes from a quick-paced dance routine. And growing research suggests that dancing not only helps people ...