Let’s Dance

Dancing is more than just a way to let loose. It may have brain health benefits

Susan Kreimer

Updated July 02, 2025

A woman demonstrating a ballet dance to an adult class

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Dancing has a lot going for it when it comes to brain health.

Hitting the dance floor helps lower stress and boost mood, plus it encourages new neural connections to develop, research suggests. Dancing in groups has the added benefit of helping people be social, one of the six pillars of brain health.

“Dance is great because it is both physically and socially engaging,” says Christina Soriano, a dance professor at Wake Forest University.

And it’s an activity people enjoy, which means they’re more likely to do it consistently. “Dance involves elements of novelty, fun and social interaction,” wrote Madeleine Hackney and her colleagues in a report published in 2024 in BMC Neuroscience.

“Dancing combines a form of cardiovascular exercise with memory and thinking challenge. Abundant evidence has been amassed that keeping the cardiovascular system fit may delay or prevent dementia and reduce inflammation,” Hackney told AARP. A former ballroom dancer, she’s a research health scientist at Atlanta VA Health Care System and an associate professor in Emory University School of Medicine’s Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology. “Dance allows you to challenge yourself with a fun, novel experience to help your brain cells develop better and stronger connections.”

At Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., people ages 65 to 100 who are concerned about their memory but have not been diagnosed with memory loss can join a study called IGROOVE to explore whether dance can slow or prevent age-related cognitive decline. Participants must commit to attending dance classes for up to three hours weekly for six months.

“There is an emerging body of research around dance as a health practice,” says Christina Hugenschmidt, an associate professor who specializes in aging studies and is co-leading the five-year study with Soriano. “We know that exercise can increase blood factors related to brain health, in particular one called BDNF,” she says. BDNF is brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and it plays an important role in the survival and growth of neurons. In addition, dance may stimulate the connections between neurons more than a typical sports class, which includes warmup, aerobic exercises, light strength training and cool down, she notes.

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Dance for mild cognitive impairment

Dance may provide benefits for people experiencing cognitive decline, as well. Hugenschmidt and Soriano have made strides in showing that improvisational dance can lessen the symptoms that often accompany early stage dementia — such as problems with gait and balance, emotional changes, lack of enthusiasm and depression. The current study enrolling patients is the latest step in more than a decade of research at Wake Forest suggesting that dance can promote cognitive health by raising heart rate and fostering social interactions.

“The evidence is starting to build that a dance intervention could have a meaningful impact on individuals with MCI [mild cognitive impairment],” says Nathaniel A. Chin, M.D., associate director of the geriatric memory program at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison. “A person with MCI has symptoms but remains independent in their daily activities, like managing finances and driving. This is an ideal stage for intervention.”

Smaller clinical trials have demonstrated that people who participate in structured dance lessons have improved scores in aspects of memory and executive function, but it’s not fully clear why, says Chin, who is also medical director of the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention study. It appears that the lessons are mentally stimulating and socially engaging, as well as potentially stress-reducing and mood-elevating — all positive things for brain health.

“Activities that combine many brain-healthy habits have an advantage over others, especially ones that can be seen as fun, like dancing,” Chin notes. “Not everyone loves to run or play chess. Dance offers a nice alternative not just for those with MCI, but for any of us who want to optimize our brain health and hope to prevent dementia.”

Soriano recommends giving dance a try. “Even if you think you’re not a dancer or if you’ve grown up believing you have two left feet, there’s a dance class for you,” she says. “Put yourself out there and try something new. Chances are, you’ll have a good time and learn some inspiring things about your body and its capacity to communicate.”