Is dancing better for the ageing brain than ordinary exercise? One well-known German study suggests it may have an edge. Over 18 months, healthy volunteers in their sixties and seventies who learned constantly changing dance routines showed growth in the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory and balance. A comparison group doing endurance, strength and flexibility training showed growth too. The clearer difference was in balance: only the dancers improved significantly. The study was small, though, and its results are best read as encouraging rather than conclusive.
Here is what the researchers did, what they found, what the headlines overstated, and how to use the findings in an ordinary week.
The study in brief
The research was led by Kathrin Rehfeld at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Magdeburg and published in 2017 in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience under the title "Dancing or Fitness Sport? The Effects of Two Training Programs on Hippocampal Plasticity and Balance Abilities in Healthy Seniors".
The question was practical. Physical activity is one of the most reliable ways to protect thinking and mobility in later life, but not all exercise is the same. Some activities mainly work the heart and muscles. Others also make the brain learn: new sequences, timing, coordination with music and other people. The team wanted to know whether that extra learning adds anything.
How the experiment worked
The team invited 62 healthy volunteers aged 63 to 80. Fifty-two met the entry criteria and were randomly assigned to one of two programmes. Both groups trained in 90-minute sessions, twice a week for the first six months and once a week for the following year.
The dance group followed a programme designed to keep them learning. Routines drew on jazz, square, Latin American and line dance, and the steps, arm patterns, formations, speed and rhythm changed every two weeks. The movements included turns, weight shifts, standing on one leg, skips and hops. Rehfeld later said the hardest part for participants was recalling routines under time pressure without cues from the instructor.
The comparison group did a conventional fitness programme: endurance work on stationary bikes at a target heart rate for the first six months and then Nordic walking, plus strength-endurance and flexibility exercises. This was repetitive by design.
Before and after, the researchers scanned participants' brains with MRI and measured the volume of different parts of the hippocampus. They tested balance with a standard posture platform that checks how well people use touch, vision and the inner ear to stay steady.
What the researchers found
The hippocampus normally shrinks with age, and that shrinkage is linked to memory problems and dementia. In this study, both groups showed volume increases, mainly in the left hippocampus. The dancers also showed gains in a few more subregions, including the dentate gyrus on the left and the subiculum on the right.
Balance told a clearer story. Only the dance group improved significantly on the overall balance score, and they improved across all three senses the test measures. The fitness group improved in two of the three. This difference between groups was statistically significant.
Rehfeld summed up the message in a statement from the publisher: "I think dancing is a powerful tool to set new challenges for body and mind, especially in older age." The team argued that the steady demand to learn and remember new choreography may be what gives dance its extra benefit.
What the study does not prove
Several popular write-ups claimed that dancing "reverses ageing" or produced "teenage brains" in older dancers. The paper itself is far more careful, and its limits matter:
- Small numbers. Of the 52 people who started, only 26 completed the study: 14 dancers and 12 in the fitness group.
- The brain differences were exploratory. The main statistical test comparing the two groups over time was not significant for hippocampal volume. The extra gains in the dancers came from follow-up comparisons, which the authors treat as preliminary.
- No inactive control group. Without a group that did nothing, it is hard to say how much of the growth in either group came from the training.
- No link to everyday memory. Brain growth and balance gains were not correlated with each other, and the study did not show a reduced risk of dementia.
- A selected group. Participants were healthy, motivated volunteers, so results may not apply to everyone.
So the fair summary is this: both kinds of exercise were good for the brain, and dancing looked especially good for balance. That fits a wider body of research showing that activities which combine movement with learning, such as dance and tai chi, can help balance and possibly thinking skills in older adults.
Bringing dance into an ordinary week
Balance matters because falls are one of the main threats to independence in later life. Anything that keeps people steady on their feet, and enjoying it enough to continue, is valuable. Some practical points:
- Keep it new. The study's dance programme changed routines regularly. Social dance classes, line dancing and folk dancing all build in fresh steps and partners.
- Do not drop other exercise. The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults, and its guidelines for older adults add strength and balance work. Dance can count towards that alongside walking, cycling or swimming.
- Start where you are. Beginners' classes, seated dance and slower styles are fine. Consistency over months matters more than intensity.
- Enjoy the music and the company. Part of dancing's appeal is that it is sociable and fun, which makes people more likely to keep going.
- Check first if needed. If you have heart, joint or balance problems, talk to a doctor before starting a new activity.
A couple who show what is possible
For inspiration, this widely shared clip shows a German couple, Nellia and Dietmar Ehrentraut, dancing a fast, acrobatic partner routine. ABC News reported their ages at the time as 64 and 70. Few of us will match their lifts and spins, but the point is the same as the study's: bodies and brains keep responding to new challenges well into later life.
After this study, the Magdeburg team went on to test "Jymmin", a system that turns physical movement into music, and planned a feasibility study with people living with dementia. The bigger lesson needs no special equipment: keep moving, and keep learning while you do.
Sources: Rehfeld et al. (2017), Frontiers in Human Neuroscience; Frontiers press release, 29 August 2017; WHO: Physical activity fact sheet; earlier coverage: Ideapod.
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