Balance, sensorimotor, and cognitive performance in long-year expert senior ballroom dancers

Jan-Christoph Kattenstroth, Tobias Kalisch, Izabela Kolankowska, Hubert R Dinse, Jan-Christoph Kattenstroth, Tobias Kalisch, Izabela Kolankowska, Hubert R Dinse

Abstract

Physical fitness is considered a major factor contributing to the maintenance of independent living and everyday competence. In line with this notion, it has been shown that several years of amateur dancing experience can exert beneficial effects not only on balance and posture but also on tactile, motor, and cognitive functions in older people. This raises the question of whether an even more extensive schedule of dancing, including competitive tournaments, would further enhance these positive effects. We therefore assessed posture, balance, and reaction times, as well as motor, tactile, and cognitive performance in older expert ballroom dancers with several years of competitive experience. We found substantially better performance in the expert group than in the controls in terms of expertise-related domains like posture, balance, and reaction times. However, there was no generalization of positive effects to those domains that were found to be improved in amateur dancers, such as tactile and cognitive performance, suggesting that there might be an optimal range of intervention intensity to maintain health and independence throughout the human lifespan.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Single row of the nonverbal geriatric concentration test (AKT). Subjects had to mark 20 symbols equivalent to the one at the top in five rows of 55 similar looking patterns within a maximum time limit of 30 s. After an initial training session, three consecutive sessions were run. Needed times for each session were averaged for evaluating individual performance.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Performance of expert dancers (ED) and a matched control group (CG) for selected tests covering cognitive, posture and balance, motor, and tactile domains. Participants of the ED group showed (a) higher scores in the RSPM (z = −2.776, P = 0.006), (b) shorter Up and go times (z = −3.819, P ≤ 0.001), (c) less errors in the Aiming test for the right hand (z = −2.808, P = 0.005), and (d) lower 2-Point-discrimination thresholds for the right index finger (z = −2.434, P = 0.015). Horizontal lines within the boxes represent the medians. Boxes show the top and bottom quartiles, and whiskers represent the minima and maxima within 1.5 interquartile range (IQR). Outliers (>3.0 IQR) are labeled as solid dots.

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Source: PubMed

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