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Cognitive effects of dance-movement intervention in a mixed group of seniors are not dependent on hippocampal atrophy

  • Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Original Article
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Abstract

Dance-movement intervention (DMI) offers multi-component stimulation of cognitive functions, and it may ameliorate cognitive deficits in the elderly. We investigated the effects of intensive DMI on the cognitive performances of healthy seniors (HS) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In addition, we evaluated whether the baseline MRI hippocampus-to-cortex volume (HV:CTV) ratio (i.e., a marker of a typical AD-specific brain atrophy and of distribution of neurofibrillary tangles in the brain) has any impact on the DMI-induced cognitive changes. The research cohort consisted of 99 subjects who were randomly assigned (in a 1:1 ratio) to a DMI group or to a control (life-as-usual) group. The DMI group consisted of 49 subjects with an average age of 69.16 years (SD = 5.36), of which 34 were HS (69.4%) and 15 had MCI (30.6%). The control group consisted of 50 subjects aged 68.37 years (SD = 6.10), of which 31 were HC (62%) and 19 (38%) had MCI. The DMI group underwent a 6-month intervention, which consisted of 60 lessons supervised by a qualified instructor. Statistical analysis yielded a significant improvement of the figural fluency task as measured by the five-point test in the DMI group as compared to the control group [t (97) = 2.72; p = 0.008]. The baseline HV:CTV ratio was not associated with cognitive changes on that task or with changes in any cognitive domain’s Z scores. We observed DMI-induced effect on the test evaluating executive functions across the spectrum of HS and MCI, which was not dependent on the magnitude of AD-related brain pathology.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the grant project of the Agency of Health Research AZV 15-33854A and by the European Regional Development Fund Project “National infrastructure for biological and medical imaging” (no. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16 013/0001775). We thank Anne Johnson for English editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Neuroscience Research Group, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Sylvie Kropacova, Kristina Mitterova, Patricia Klobusiakova, Lubos Brabenec, Lubomira Anderkova, Nela Nemcova-Elfmarkova, Zuzana Balazova & Irena Rektorova

  2. Psychology Department, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Arne Nováka 1, 602 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Sylvie Kropacova

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Kristina Mitterova, Patricia Klobusiakova, Lubos Brabenec & Zuzana Balazova

  4. Multimodal and Functional Imaging Research Group, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Ivan Rektor

  5. First Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Pekařská 664/53, 656 91, Brno, Czech Republic

    Ivan Rektor & Irena Rektorova

  6. Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Roman Grmela

  7. Department of Gymnastics and Combatives, Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Lenka Svobodová & Pavlina Vaculikova

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  1. Sylvie Kropacova
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Kropacova, S., Mitterova, K., Klobusiakova, P. et al. Cognitive effects of dance-movement intervention in a mixed group of seniors are not dependent on hippocampal atrophy. J Neural Transm 126, 1455–1463 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-019-02068-y

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