Despite what you may think, dance is not just entertainment. (Although it is definitely entertaining to watch tipsy partygoers.) While learning and practicing dance, your brain actually adapts. Following people over months of dance training, researchers have seen real, measurable changes inside the brain, even in older adults.
Memory-related brain regions grow. The areas responsible for movement, balance, and coordination become more robust. Connections between brain regions strengthen. These are physical changes, not just “feeling sharper.”
It is not suprising that people who dance also tend to perform better on tests of memory, attention, processing speed, and executive function. From our first lessons on, students are required to learn new dances, new patterns, new movements – the list is endless. Some studies even link dance training to higher levels of BDNF, a protein that supports neuron growth and long-term brain health.
Not only is learning to dance a memory test but a multi-function coordination experiment. You are moving different body parts, recalling patterns, syncing to rhythm, adjusting to space, and often interacting with others at the same time. It is this combination of challenges that stimulates the brain in ways simple, repetitive workouts cannot.
Traditional exercise does help improve brain function, but in one long-term study, comparing dancers and traditional exercise groups, both improved but the dancers showed strikingly improved changes in brain regions tied to memory and learning. Constant learning seems to matter more than just repeating the same movements.
The best part is you do not need to be good – to improve brain function or to have fun, wink, wink. You just need to learn. New steps, new coordination, new patterns. Waltz, Tango, Salsa, Swing – they all work. If you are engaging your brain to figure something out, it is adapting, growing, and changing.
Learning to dance isn’t just personal entertainment, but brain exercise with tremendous long-term benefits. We challenge our students to be these constant learners. We want them to grow and develop in their skills while enjoying the process. Our goal is to be the best dance studio in the York and Cleveland area so that we can continue sharing these benefits with more people.
Looking forward to seeing you on the floor – S. Dawson
Source: Teixeira-Machado et al., 2019. Dance for neuroplasticity: A systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. PMID: 30543905