Dance On The Brain Essay

“If you suffer from dizziness, then making time in your schedule for any form of dance is a good way to address this problem” (Beris 2). Dance not only helps with balance but with the brain as a whole. The benefits of dance remain endless, varying from the body to the spirit to the mind. Dance consists of more than merely moving to the rhythm of a song. Involving more than simply jumping and spinning around on one foot, dance provides a way of life and a way to stay in shape. Compared to the benefits of dance on the body, the benefits of dance on the brain remain unfamiliar. Until recently, scientists have concluded little about the benefits of dance on the brain. Confirming these cognitive benefits took a plethora of time, but by running tests and labs on numerous dancers, they have confirmed not

When dancers train for multiple years, their brain teaches itself to mute “signals from balance organs in the inner ear linked to the cerebellum” (Crees 3).

Spatial Intelligence

The precuneus, hidden between the two cerebral hemispheres, helps track the course a dancer takes from the centermost part of their body (Brown and Parsons 6).

By perceiving the relative positioning of their body placement, a dancer’s sense of spatial awareness sharpens, allowing the brain to process at a faster rate (Brown and Parsons 3).

Efficient Memory

Dance “helps develop new neural connections” namely in places affecting long-term memory (Edwards 2).

Dementia, a disease characterized by memory loss, is greatly reduced by dancing due to the stimulation of the brain from mental exertion (Edwards 2).

Marking, the process of dancing but not doing the motions full out, allows dancers “to memorize and repeat moves with greater fluidity” (Beris 2).

In dance, visualizing the movements that they perform helps a dancer enhance their muscle memory (Beris