Dance Intervention Impact on Brain Plasticity: A Randomized 6-Month fMRI Study in Non-expert Older Adults

Abstract

Background: Dance is a complex activity combining physical exercise with cognitive, social, and artistic stimulation.Objectives: We aimed to assess the effects of dance intervention (DI) on intra and inter-network resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) and its association to cognitive changes in a group of non-demented elderly participants.Methods: Participants were randomly assigned into two groups: DI and life as usual (LAU). Six-month-long DI consisted of supervised 60 min lessons three times per week. Resting-state fMRI data were processed using independent component analysis to evaluate the intra and inter-network connectivity of large-scale brain networks. Interaction between group (DI, LAU) and visit (baseline, follow-up) was assessed using ANOVA, and DI-induced changes in rs-FC were correlated with cognitive outcomes.Results: Data were analyzed in 68 participants (DI; n = 36 and LAU; n = 32). A significant behavioral effect was found in the attention domain, with Z scores increasing in the DI group and decreasing in the LAU group (p = 0.017). The DI as compared to LAU led to a significant rs-FC increase of the default mode network (DMN) and specific inter-network pairings, including insulo-opercular and right frontoparietal/frontoparietal control networks (p = 0.019 and p = 0.023), visual and language/DMN networks (p = 0.012 and p = 0.015), and cerebellar and visual/language networks (p = 0.015 and p = 0.003). The crosstalk of the insulo-opercular and right frontoparietal networks were associated with attention/executive domain Z-scores (R = 0.401, p = 0.015, and R = 0.412, p = 0.012).Conclusion: The DI led to intervention-specific complex brain plasticity changes that were of cognitive relevance.

Enhancing Neuroplasticity Is Urgent: Music and Dance for the UN/WHO Decade of Action for Healthy Ageing for All

“…Dance affords significant improvements in brain chemistry, architecture, and performance such that physical health, neurocognition, and physical function can be maintained for a better quality of life [54,[56][57][58][59][60][61]72,118,119,126]. "Dance showed a better effect for structural and functional changes in the brain" than music and exercise [58].…”

“…A small RCT [119] with healthy people more than 60 years old compared a control group living "life as usual" to a 60 min, 3 times a week, dance intervention group. Irish country, African, Greek, and other types of dances were included with medium physical intensity; enhanced brain activity on resting state fMRI with the dance intervention correlated with improved attention and executive functions.…”

The impact of dance movement interventions on psychological health in older adults without dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…According to comprehensive reviews, dance could promote plasticity in functional and structural brain networks (Basso et al, 2021b;Teixeira-Machado et al, 2019). Recent interventional studies in older adults confirmed partially increased functional connectivity in higher-order systems, including the default mode and frontoparietal networks, in response to 3-, 4-and 6-months dance-based programs, respectively (Balazova et al, 2021;Balbim et al, 2021;Chao et al, 2021). Other studies in similar populations have demonstrated improvements after DMI compared to comparators in white matter microstructural integrity of the fornix (Burzynska et al, 2017) and gray matter morphology.…”

Improvisational Movement to Improve Quality of Life in Older Adults With Early-Stage Dementia: A Pilot Study

“…Aerobic exercise interventions in older adults can increase brain volumes (Erickson et al, 2011), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (Erickson et al, 2011), and organization of functional networks (Burdette et al, 2010;Voss et al, 2010;Baniqued et al, 2017). Emerging evidence suggests that dance may also increase brain volumes (Rehfeld et al, 2018;Rektorova et al, 2020), structural connectivity (Burzynska et al, 2017), BDNF (Rehfeld et al, 2018), and functional connectivity (Zilidou et al, 2018;Balazova et al, 2021) in older adults.…”