Did you know that, much like how wearing hearing aids may help prevent cognitive decline1, dancing can too? Put them together and you’ve got an excuse for a fun night out anytime!
Untreated hearing loss and dementia
Untreated hearing loss is a risk factor for dementia2, because as the brain stops hearing certain sound frequencies, it forgets how to hear them. You don’t hear with your ears – you hear with your brain.
The neural pathways that are made for specific sounds and frequencies start to degrade and eventually disappear when you can no longer hear them, and that part of your brain isn’t working anymore. It's believed that the more unused brain areas you have, the more risk for dementia.
How does dancing help?
Freestyle dancing3 – any type where you hear music and improvise the steps you do – helps create new neural pathways in your brain. The more you dance, the better for your brain!
Plus, dancing is fun and listening to music with hearing aids in means your brain is getting the full experience of sound, too. Give your HearingLife location a call if you need a tune-up for your hearing aids or a new hearing aid program for listening to music (and dancing).
And remember – dancing is good for your brain, even if you close all the curtains and dance by yourself at home!
1. Wei et al. 2017, Hearing Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Dementia: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.
2. Lin FR, Metter EJ, O'Brien RJ, Resnick SM, Zonderman AB, Ferrucci L. Hearing loss and incident dementia. Arch Neurol. 2011;68(2):214–220. doi: 68/2/214 [pii] 10.1001/archneurol.2010.362.
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20582277/.