Dancing Is Even Smarter Than You Thought

I enjoy looking up information regarding two things I am passionate about, dance and psychology. I recently stumbled across some research that looked at the effects of dancing on the brain that I thought were worth sharing.

I am sure we are all aware that dancing is great for our physical health, but did you know it is also good for your brain? According to this research, dancing is multi-tasking and requires the use of several brain functions at once — kinesthetic (body movement/muscle memory), rational (organizing/planning), musical, and emotional. As a result, dancing challenges your mind, which forces your brain to generate new connections or pathways. It was said that regular aerobic training that incorporates some type of dance at least once a week can maximize a person's brain function. 

So keep on dancing! It's a fun and challenging way to keep your body and mind active and healthy!

-Miss Lara


For those interested, some cutting-edge dance-related neuroscience is going on right now at the SoBA Lab in Wales. (also the source of this blog post's illustration, © SoBA Lab, Bangor, Wales

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