Salsa Makes You Smarter

I have made one of my 2015 goals to try as many new things as possible! I want to have first hand experience with as many activities as possible, so I can have fun recommendations for my patients when I am a physical therapist.

I had the pleasure of attending a Salsa dancing lesson on Monday night. I was sure I was going to end up like Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly, but I pleasantly surprised myself. I learned some new steps, sweated up a storm, and had an amazing night out with some girl friends. It turned out to be an amazing aerobic workout! In addition to that, I looked up some of the other benefits to salsa dancing.

According to an article from Stanford, dancing has an antidepressant effect and reduces stress levels. It increases the level of serotonin, which improves mood. In contrast, a decreased level of serotonin can lead to depression. It can also increase mental sharpness for all ages! 

Dancing has proved to be extremely effective for seniors! A study done by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NYC followed 488 seniors between the ages of 75 and 85 over the course of 21 years. They assessed several different self-reported leisure activities, and frequent dancing was the only physical activity that was associated with a lower risk of dementia. The brain is plastic, and rewires neural pathways when necessary. By engaging in new activities, we give our brain a workout. This allows us to foster the development of new neural pathways, thus combatting the degenerative nature of diseases such as dementia. 

Dancing, especially with a partner, requires quick decision making, so it is constantly challenging your brain to creating new pathways. By following a partner, you are actively interpreting their signals and responding, thus using active thinking. Leading is great too because that role also requires active attention to possibilities. Active thinking equals new pathways.

In moderation, everything is good, but challenging your brain to form new pathways often is great! This goes for every age. It's never to early to work out your brain in new ways. So grab your girlfriends, grab your grandparents, and enjoy a new class or a night out to get in some cardio and build some new neural pathways!

References:

Powers, R. (2010, July 30). Use It or Lose It: Dancing Makes You Smarter. Retrieved January 21, 2015, from Stanford Dance: http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm

Verghese, Joe et. al. (2003, June 19). Leisure Activities and the Risk of Dementia in the Elderly. The New England Journal of Medicine.