Shall We Dance? Dancing Modulates Executive Functions and Spatial Memory

Aging is generally considered to be related to physical and cognitive decline. This is especially prominent in the frontal and parietal lobes, underlying executive functions and spatial memory, respectively. This process could be successfully mitigated in certain ways, such as through the practice o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-03, Vol.17 (6), p.1960
Main Authors: Noguera, Carmen, Carmona, Dolores, Rueda, Adrián, Fernández, Rubén, Cimadevilla, José Manuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerobics
Aging
Aging (natural)
Animal memory
Brain damage
Cognitive ability
Dance
Executive function
Exercise
Memory
Memory tasks
Physical exercise
Physical fitness
Salsa dance
Spatial analysis
Spatial memory
Studies
Virtual reality
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Aging is generally considered to be related to physical and cognitive decline. This is especially prominent in the frontal and parietal lobes, underlying executive functions and spatial memory, respectively. This process could be successfully mitigated in certain ways, such as through the practice of aerobic sports. With regard to this, dancing integrates physical exercise with music and involves retrieval of complex sequences of steps and movements creating choreographies. In this study, we compared 26 non-professional salsa dancers (mean age 55.3 years, age-range 49-70 years) with 20 non-dancers (mean age 57.6 years, age-range 49-70 years) by assessing two variables: their executive functions and spatial memory performance. results showed that dancers scored better that non-dancers in our tests, outperforming controls in executive functions-related tasks. Groups did not differ in spatial memory performance. This work suggests that dancing can be a valid way of slowing down the natural age-related cognitive decline. A major limitation of this study is the lack of fitness assessment in both groups. In addition, since dancing combines multiple factors like social contact, aerobic exercise, cognitive work with rhythms, and music, it is difficult to determine the weight of each variable.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph17061960