Kattenstroth Jan-Christoph, Kalisch Tobias, Kolankowska Izabela, Dinse Hubert R
Neural Plasticity Lab, Institute for Neuroinformatics, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
J Aging Res. 2011;2011:176709. doi: 10.4061/2011/176709. Epub 2011 Sep 25.
Physical fitness is considered a major factor contributing to the maintenance of independent living and everyday competence. In line with this notion, it has been shown that several years of amateur dancing experience can exert beneficial effects not only on balance and posture but also on tactile, motor, and cognitive functions in older people. This raises the question of whether an even more extensive schedule of dancing, including competitive tournaments, would further enhance these positive effects. We therefore assessed posture, balance, and reaction times, as well as motor, tactile, and cognitive performance in older expert ballroom dancers with several years of competitive experience. We found substantially better performance in the expert group than in the controls in terms of expertise-related domains like posture, balance, and reaction times. However, there was no generalization of positive effects to those domains that were found to be improved in amateur dancers, such as tactile and cognitive performance, suggesting that there might be an optimal range of intervention intensity to maintain health and independence throughout the human lifespan.
身体健康被认为是维持独立生活和日常能力的一个主要因素。与此观点一致的是，研究表明，数年的业余舞蹈经历不仅能对老年人的平衡和姿势产生有益影响，还能对触觉、运动和认知功能产生有益影响。这就引出了一个问题，即更广泛的舞蹈训练计划，包括参加竞技比赛，是否会进一步增强这些积极影响。因此，我们评估了有多年竞技经验的老年专业交际舞者的姿势、平衡和反应时间，以及运动、触觉和认知表现。我们发现，在姿势、平衡和反应时间等与专业技能相关的领域，专家组的表现明显优于对照组。然而，在业余舞者中得到改善的那些领域，如触觉和认知表现，并没有出现积极影响的普遍化，这表明在整个人类寿命周期中，可能存在一个维持健康和独立性的最佳干预强度范围。
