DANCING KEEPS YOUR BRAIN HEALTHY

Engaging in physical exercise has an anti-aging effect on the hippocampus region of the brain — an area that controls memory, learning and balance.

A new study has compared different forms of physical exercise — dancing and endurance training — undertaken by elderly volunteers for 18 months, has shown that both can have an anti-aging effect on the brain, but only dancing resulted in a noticeable difference in behaviour. This difference is attributed to the extra challenge of learning dancing routines. As we grow older we suffer a decline in mental and physical fitness, which can be made worse by conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. But older people who routinely partake in physical exercise can reverse the signs of aging in the brain, and dancing has the most profound effect.