Dec 6, 2021
Agnes de Mille, American dancer and choreographer expresses the power of dance: "To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking."
Does dance also have the power
to ward off dementia? Today's guest is Dr. Joe
Verghese, Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine in New York. His research centers around the
effects of aging and disease on gait and cognition in older adults,
and whether cognitively stimulating activities such as dance, can
reduce the risk of losing mobility, falling, developing dementia
and general poor health.
In an early study of the association
of
Leisure Activities and the Risk of
Dementia in the Elderly, 3 of 6 cognitive activities included (reading,
playing board games and playing musical instruments) were
associated with a lower risk for dementia, but of the 9 listed
physical activities, only dancing was associated with a lowered
risk.
We touch on current studies of physicality and
cognitive training for those at risk for Alzheimer's. One
recent pilot study into the impact of regular social
dancing as an intervention in older adults at high risk for
Alzheimer's disease had to be cut short during the pandemic with
only half the expected participants completing the
study. Another recent study is investigating
whether computerized cognitive training could
enhance mobility in older adults. There remains some controversy
about cognitive training. It is clear that there is a 'near
transfer' effect, improvement on
testing because you're training on that
same process on which you're testing them. And consistently,
almost every study shows that there is a near transfer effect. The
challenge is whether that translates into improvement of executive
function for real life skills, ie, a 'far transfer
effect.'
For those of us looking to age youthfully, keeping active both physically and mentally, Dr Verghese suggests: "Pick a few leisure activities that you enjoy and then engage in them at least five days a week, but every day, if you can. It's good if you do it as part of a group, because then there's a group dynamic; when you get together in a group, there's peer support that you get. And also increasingly we are recognizing that socialization itself might have cognitive benefits. So people who socialize more tend to have better cognitive function. and seem to be at less risk of cognitive decline"
To learn how you can decelerate your aging trajectory, stay vibrant and vigorous, or start your own online business in wellness and anti-aging, Contact Dr. Gillian Lockitch
https://linktr.ee/askdrgill
Email: askdrgill@gmail.com
Schedule a
complimentary Living Younger Discovery Call at
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Order your copy of Growing Older Living Younger: The Science of Aging Gracefully and the Art of Retiring Comfortably at www.gillianlockitch.com