Dancing Makes You Sharper
How Does Ballroom Dancing Make You Sharper?
Men ballroom shoes and women ballroom shoes are the first things you put on when you go dancing, and the art of dance will help you stay smart.
Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the most important part of ballroom dancing for people with dementia. Critical thinking helps to improve the flexibility of your brain, and seniors who have trouble with critical thinking must get as much practice as possible. Ballroom dancing and crossword puzzles are completely different activities, but each activity offers amazing results in the areas of the brain that must remain flexible.
Who Came to This Conclusion?
A multi-year study was done in England of elderly patients who were experiencing cases of dementia. The dementia in these patients was used as the measure for mental acuity, and patients who were participating in:
» » dancing were 76% more likely to see gains in their dementia.
» » crossword puzzles were 47% more likely to see gains, and patients who were playing
» » regularl golf players had 0% no better chance of seeing gains in their dementia.
The patients were studied over a 21-year period, and patients who were seen making gains were kept in a form of dance that was most beneficial. Dance classes given to the senior patients were offered once a week, and patients who saw gains were kept in these classes for long periods of time. One form of dancing was found to offer the best results, and seniors are encouraged to participate in dance classes as often as possible.
From What Dance Forms Your Brain Benefits the Most?
Ballroom dancing was found to be the MOST beneficial form of dancing. Men are able to use their brains to decide how they can lead their partners more effectively, and ladies will use their brains more often to determine how to follow their partner .Leading, following and making decisions with in split second for next step is a focal factor in keeping human brain stay sharp. The cognitive benefits of a ballroom dancing begin with the partners, but the routines are difficult to remember.
Learning routines takes several classes to do, and each partner has a responsibility to be perfect during the routine. Seniors are getting a mental workout in every class, and seniors will have a chance to learn a new style every few weeks. Latin ballroom dancing is the most rigorous of all styles, and the rumba or cha cha will create the most difficulty for the performers. Dance classes allow you to have fun, but you are going to work very hard to remember what to do during each routine.
Why Women Benefit More than Men?
In dance world women's role takes upper hand. Follower has to make million split second decisions as to what is next step. In other words women have to interpret their partners signals over and over again and that is what we call active decision making. More dance partners women have more active brain activity they experience. Different partner, more possibilities in different step varieties.
Intelligence Is What We Fall Back On
Intelligence is what we fall back on when we are not sure what are to do, but your intelligence tends to drop when you are experiencing dementia. The dementia seniors experience robs them of a chance to handle daily activities, but ballroom dancing classes will help seniors to think more clearly. Seniors need their intelligence to fall back on in their golden years, but losing that intelligence can be devastating for someone who was used to thinking quick on their feet.
Alert tranquility is a state of being that healthy people enjoy every day, but seniors cannot go into a space of alert tranquility without falling asleep or nodding off briefly. The brain must be much more plastic if a senior wants to rest while remaining alert to their surroundings. Younger people do this all the time during the day, but seniors must build up their neuroplasticity again to make sure they can respond to the world around them properly.
Ballroom dancing requires a bit of alert tranquility that you will find when you are doing a slow dance. The two partners are locked in an embrace that lasts the duration of a song, but the partners must be able to get lost in the dance. A senior who does not have their neuroplasticity built up cannot enjoy the intensity of the dance without themselves. The practice that goes into ballroom dancing helps make the world a more interesting place to take in, and the alert tranquility returns.
Seniors have been studied thoroughly, and their brain waves have been considered for many years until it became apparent that dancing would help keep seniors alert to the world around them. You can do the same thing with your own life, and you may build up a large amount of neuroplasticity that you will need when you get older. Your golden years will be more golden, and you will feel better about how you live your life.