Episode Details

FLASHBACK FRIDAY FB 29 Dec 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. 

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