Dance effective in fighting against cognitive decline in Parkinson’s, York University study finds

A new study led by researchers at York University shows that dance can be beneficial in halting the cognitive decline associated with Parkinson’s disease and, for some participants, they even showed signs of improvement. Faculty of Health Associate Professor Joseph DeSouza, co-author of the study, says since cognition is nearly always expected to decline as the illness progresses and this was a multi-year study, the findings are quite remarkable.

“The classic progression of Parkinson's disease is that cognition gets bad as well as motor symptoms, and some people already have significantly impaired cognition by the time they get to a diagnosis,” says DeSouza, who worked closely on the study with lead author Simran Rooprai, a second-year interdisciplinary master’s student at York. “So finding that no one in the dance group had further cognitive decline over six years, we think that’s pretty significant.”

The study, published today in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, looked at 43 participants from a group with Parkinson’s participating in the Sharing Dance Parkinson’s program at the National Ballet of Canada and the Dance for Parkinson’s Disease program through Trinity St. Paul’s Church, both located in Toronto, and a reference group of 28 people with Parkinson’s who were sedentary and not engaged in any physical activity.

Dance classes would begin with a seated warm-up, followed by “barre” exercises, and sessions ended with floorwork dances. One group was also taught a specific choreography in preparation for an upcoming performance.

The researchers found that the cognitive scores for the dance group had improved compared to the reference group, where they saw no changes, or a slight decline.

Rooprai says the research shows that dance could help with cognitive preservation, or perhaps even improvement in those with Parkinson’s.

“We can't really fix the brain, but we're trying to show that with dance, maybe we can delay the onset of further cognitive decline,” says Rooprai.

While Parkinson’ disease is most closely associated with the characteristic tremors of the disease, it is also associated with cognitive decline, with four out of five people with the illness eventually experiencing severe cognition problems as the disease progresses.

Earlier research led by DeSouza at York that he worked on with fellow author and former York PhD student Karolina Bearss, now a professor at Algoma University, has shown the benefits of dance for depression and motor symptoms of the illness, suggesting the benefits of dance are widespread.

“Dance engages many parts of the brain,” says Rooprai. “While dancing, you’re listening to music, learning new steps, remembering the different sequences, and you’re engaging with other dancers so you’re aware of your surroundings. Dance is physical, mental, and social all at once.”

DeSouza and Rooprai are working on a follow-up study in collaboration with the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, where they will look at how working memory is affected for people with Parkinson’s taking weekly dance classes.

“Given how dance has so many different positive impacts on cognition, we expect to see improvements.” says DeSouza.

REFERENCE: Dance effective in fighting against cognitive decline in Parkinson’s, York University study finds; York University; Journal- Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease; DOI- 10.1177/13872877251393