Dance Helps Improve Movement and Balance of People with Parkinson's Disease
Recent research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who took Argentine tango classes fared better than patients who participated in non-dance exercise programs in improving their balance and movement abilities. You can learn more about these therapeutic tango sessions in "Tango improves balance, mobility in patients with Parkinson's disease." The following video provides an overview of this program:
The researchers, led by Gammon M. Earhart, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical therapy, said that
while dance in general may be beneficial for patients with Parkinson's disease, tango uses several aspects of movement that my be especially relevant for these patients including dynamic balance, turning, initiation of movement, moving at a variety of speeds and walking backward.
Dance Classes for People with Parkinson's at Mark Morris
This fall, radio and television producer Dave Iverson, who has PD, is hosting a PBS Frontline program, "A Report on Parkinson's Disease."
The Q & A section offers a good introduction to PD including this definition:
Basically, it's a degenerative neurological condition usually characterized by movement difficulty such as tremor, balance problems and muscle stiffness that become more debilitating over time. Those motor difficulties are caused by a loss of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which helps regulate muscle control...But defining Parkinson's is actually not a simple question. Scientists are discovering that Parkinson's is much more complex than was originally thought.
The Wikipedia page for Parkinson's Disease is also a good place to learn more.
Posted by
Doug Fox on May 22, 2008 6:25 AM
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This is really cool stuff - esp as neurodegenerative diseases like PD continues to affect more people, treatment and quality of life issues will become really important. It's especially pertinent to target a disease state that challenges motor skills, and pushing patients to move when their bodies fight against it.
On a certain level, many people who dance have always known the therapeutic value of dance in our daily lives - relief from stress, interaction with others, etc. It's really interesting to see it applied in a really practical way.
Hi Doug, I'm currently in the middle of an M.D./Ph.D. program, with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, so I have a background in both neuroscience and medicine. Dance happens to be an intense hobby - I took a few dance history and even dance criticism classes as an undergrad but never majored/minored in it. Feel free to email me with questions! I'll share with you what I know.
I'm glad that science is starting to prove something all we dancers already had a hunch about. The before and after video was really powerful.
I don't suffer from any neurological conditions, but I was a certifiable klutz before I started doing salsa. I was so bad that many of my friends would joke about getting rich off of the pennies they would get every time I tripped (my friends are really nice, I know). Now people comment on how gracefully I walk and I almost never trip.
Clearly, dance has had a benefit on the mechanisms in my brain that coordinate my movements. I wonder if it is the same area affected by parkinsons.
My guess is that it is the same part of the brain - but I don't really know.
I know from my dancing over the past few years that my perception of movement (mine and others) in space and time has changed dramatically. And I'm much more aware of all types of movement inside and outside of class.
The questions that Maria and Doug are asking are difficult ones, and even with the mass amount of research done in the brain, the answers to these questions still remain elusive. We know that there are many parts of the brain that are related to movement (cerebellum, primary motor cortex, and the basal ganglia) all located in different areas of the brain, but the contribution of each are still hazy (mostly because their functions were determined through lesion studies, or people with strokes who happened to have that area "lesioned" although these patients also have other damaged areas as well, which makes the answer less clear.) It's thought that cerebellum is important for movement "memory" - like doing a jump while ice skating for example, and keeping it in your memory so you can repeat it over again. The basal ganglia (the area of the brain affected by Parkinson's) is thought to "modulate" movement - it's not the primary generator of movement but it "fine tunes" movement that you make. That's why in PD, you lose this fine tuning of movement and get uncontrolled movement. The basal ganglia is also thought to be important for initiating movement, because PD patients often have a hard time initiating movement.
With this said, other studies have also shown that for instance, the cerebellum has no function because people who have their cerebellum removed (to treat intractable strokes, for example), still function completely normally. As my dad, a neurologist, says, he thinks the cerebellum's function is to keep rain off the brainstem. :) (The cerebellum is located like a roof over the brainstem. A brain anatomy joke, sorry.)
Klutziness and lack thereof? It's hard to say where that comes from. Like every answer in science, it probably involves many different areas of the brain that are acting in harmony together (the answer is never a single clear cut answer!).
Sorry to be grouchy about this. But the downside is that dance therapy as a good and popular thing tends to obscure the artistic value and the technical professionalism of the work I and other physically integrated dance companies do.
Jolene, thanks for background about the parts of the brain and how it works in relationship to movement, ailments and memory.
Wheelchairdancer, thanks for your comment. Couldn't you make the same argument for any type of informal or fitness-oriented dance class when comparing it to the work of dance companies? I personally don't' think that the first obscures or diminishes the value of the second.
The Kinetic Interface blog on Great Dance starts with the premise that by focusing on the body and movement we can better understand, engage with, and contribute to many of the technological and scientific changes that are reshaping our daily lives.
To share stories and ideas, offer feedback, and ask questions, please email Doug Fox.
8 Comments
This is really cool stuff - esp as neurodegenerative diseases like PD continues to affect more people, treatment and quality of life issues will become really important. It's especially pertinent to target a disease state that challenges motor skills, and pushing patients to move when their bodies fight against it.
On a certain level, many people who dance have always known the therapeutic value of dance in our daily lives - relief from stress, interaction with others, etc. It's really interesting to see it applied in a really practical way.
Jolene, thanks for your comment.
Don't you have a background in neuroscience? I remember reading on your blog that you wrote thesis that dealt with neuroscience and dance.
Hi Doug, I'm currently in the middle of an M.D./Ph.D. program, with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, so I have a background in both neuroscience and medicine. Dance happens to be an intense hobby - I took a few dance history and even dance criticism classes as an undergrad but never majored/minored in it. Feel free to email me with questions! I'll share with you what I know.
I'm glad that science is starting to prove something all we dancers already had a hunch about. The before and after video was really powerful.
I don't suffer from any neurological conditions, but I was a certifiable klutz before I started doing salsa. I was so bad that many of my friends would joke about getting rich off of the pennies they would get every time I tripped (my friends are really nice, I know). Now people comment on how gracefully I walk and I almost never trip.
Clearly, dance has had a benefit on the mechanisms in my brain that coordinate my movements. I wonder if it is the same area affected by parkinsons.
Hi Maria,
My guess is that it is the same part of the brain - but I don't really know.
I know from my dancing over the past few years that my perception of movement (mine and others) in space and time has changed dramatically. And I'm much more aware of all types of movement inside and outside of class.
The questions that Maria and Doug are asking are difficult ones, and even with the mass amount of research done in the brain, the answers to these questions still remain elusive. We know that there are many parts of the brain that are related to movement (cerebellum, primary motor cortex, and the basal ganglia) all located in different areas of the brain, but the contribution of each are still hazy (mostly because their functions were determined through lesion studies, or people with strokes who happened to have that area "lesioned" although these patients also have other damaged areas as well, which makes the answer less clear.) It's thought that cerebellum is important for movement "memory" - like doing a jump while ice skating for example, and keeping it in your memory so you can repeat it over again. The basal ganglia (the area of the brain affected by Parkinson's) is thought to "modulate" movement - it's not the primary generator of movement but it "fine tunes" movement that you make. That's why in PD, you lose this fine tuning of movement and get uncontrolled movement. The basal ganglia is also thought to be important for initiating movement, because PD patients often have a hard time initiating movement.
With this said, other studies have also shown that for instance, the cerebellum has no function because people who have their cerebellum removed (to treat intractable strokes, for example), still function completely normally. As my dad, a neurologist, says, he thinks the cerebellum's function is to keep rain off the brainstem. :) (The cerebellum is located like a roof over the brainstem. A brain anatomy joke, sorry.)
Klutziness and lack thereof? It's hard to say where that comes from. Like every answer in science, it probably involves many different areas of the brain that are acting in harmony together (the answer is never a single clear cut answer!).
Sorry to be grouchy about this. But the downside is that dance therapy as a good and popular thing tends to obscure the artistic value and the technical professionalism of the work I and other physically integrated dance companies do.
WCD
Jolene, thanks for background about the parts of the brain and how it works in relationship to movement, ailments and memory.
Wheelchairdancer, thanks for your comment. Couldn't you make the same argument for any type of informal or fitness-oriented dance class when comparing it to the work of dance companies? I personally don't' think that the first obscures or diminishes the value of the second.
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