Dance is therapy. Dance is medicine. And dance can actually help us keep memories indelible, see color, and make life feel less complicated. Here are three fun findings about our brains on dance.💃

1 // Stay Sharp💡

The Harvard Medical School wrote about a few studies promoting the idea that dance bolsters brain health. The New England Journal of Medicine looked at the effects of 11 different types of physical activity — cycling, golf, swimming, tennis and a bunch more. However they found that only one of the activities studied—dance 🙌 —lowered participants’ risk of dementia by 76%. Golf, biking and swimming reduced the risk by 0% and doing crossword puzzles reduced it by 47% to give you some perspective.  Researchers say dance won due to the combo of mental effort and social interaction.

Keep dancing, invite your friends and keep your mind in tact, y’all.

2 // See the world in COLOR 🌍 🌈

The dopamine released while we dance is responsible for transmitting info between neurons, so it stimulates the pleasure and rewards centers of the brain. But did you know that dopamine also has a task of transmitting visual information about blue and yellow light? Psychologist, Christopher Thorstenson, exposed participants to three different things: a super sad scene in the Lion King (the one where Mufasa dies and Simba is left an orphaned cub — noooooo 😰 ), a stand-up comedy routine and a neutral screensaver. After people were sufficiently sad, amused or unmoved, respective to what they were watching, Thorstenson showed them color swatches.

The result? The comedy watchers and the screensaver watchers were able to discern colors, no problem. However the Lion King viewers who had temporarily fallen down into the dumps had trouble distinguishing swatches on the blue-yellow axis — just because they had less dopamine.

“Our results show that mood and emotion can affect how we see the world around us,” Thorstenson said. Literally.

3 // Be uncomplicatedly happy

Dancing connects with emotional centers of the brain. Dr Peter Lovatt of the University of Hertfordshire says that dancing prompts an emotional release of either uncomplicated happiness, “while for some it can make them cry. It’s cathartic – a letting go of pent-up emotions.”

So if you didn’t have enough reason to keep dancing already, there you have it. Move your body today (this song can help get you started) and boogie down to a better brain.😊

#morningmischief

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