Effect Of Intensive Dance-Exercise Intervention On Brain Plasticity In Healthy Seniors And Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Intensive dance-exercise intervention leads to cortical thickening in the inferior temporal and lateral occipital cortices of the right hemisphere that are engaged in the ventral visual pathway; and to the increase in resting-state functional connectivity within the frontoparietal control network, i.e. the cognitive brain network that controls visual attention tasks. Subjects undergoing an active intervention improved in the five-point task that evaluates particularly executive functions. These findings show that 6-month intensive non-pharmacological intervention may enhance distinct brain plasticity and executive functions in a mixed cohort of healthy seniors and patients with mild cognitive impairment. Further longitudinal studies should examine whether it may also prevent/postpone cognitive decline and dementia in this population.