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. 2021 Mar;5(1):1-14.
doi: 10.1007/s41465-020-00185-1. Epub 2020 Aug 3.

The Impact of the BAILAMOS™ Dance Program on Brain Functional Connectivity and Cognition in Older Latino Adults: A Pilot Study

Guilherme M Balbim  1 , Olusola A Ajilore  2 , Kirk I Erickson  3 , Melissa Lamar  4 , Susan Aguiñaga  5 , Eduardo E Bustamante  1 , David X Marquez  1
Affiliations

The Impact of the BAILAMOS™ Dance Program on Brain Functional Connectivity and Cognition in Older Latino Adults: A Pilot Study

Guilherme M Balbim et al. J Cogn Enhanc. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Dance is a culturally salient form of physical activity (PA) for older Latinos. Resting-state functional connectivity (FC) is a putative biomarker for age-related cognitive decline. We aimed to investigate the impact of the BAILAMOS™ dance program on FC in three brain functional networks (Default Mode [DMN], Frontoparietal [FPN], and Salience [SAL] networks), and cognition. Ten cognitively healthy older Latinos participated in the four-month BAILAMOS™ dance program. We assessed PA levels (self-reported and device-assessed) and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness, cognition, and resting-state FC via functional magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and post-intervention. We performed paired t-tests and Pearson correlations. Given the pilot nature of the study, significance levels were set at p < 0.05 and effect sizes are reported. We observed a significant increase in self-reported moderate leisure-time PA from pre- to post-intervention (t(9) = 3.16, p = 0.011, d = 0.66). FC within-FPN regions of interest (ROIs) significantly increased pre- to post-intervention (t(9) = 2.35, p = 0.043, d = 0.70). DMN ROIs showed an increase, with a moderate effect size, in the integration with other networks' ROIs (t(9) = 1.96, p = 0.081, d = 0.64) post-intervention. Increases in moderate leisure-time PA at post-intervention were associated with increases in the FC within-FPN (R = 0.79, p = 0.006). Our results suggest that dance might be a promising approach for improving age-related disruption of FC within- and between-networks commonly associated with cognitive decline.

Keywords: Brain functional connectivity; Cognition; Dance; Older Latino adults; Physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest/Competing interests: OAA is the co-founder of KeyWise, Inc. OAA serves on the advisory board of Blueprint Health and Embodied Labs. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Functional connectivity mean difference between the right anterior insula (SAL) and whole-brain pre- and post-BAILAMOS™
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Functional connectivity mean difference between the left supramarginal gyrus (SAL) and whole-brain pre- and post-BAILAMOS™
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Functional connectivity mean difference between the left lateral prefrontal cortex (FPN) and whole-brain pre- and post-BAILAMOS™
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Mean difference between FPN regions of interest pairs pre- and post-BAILAMOS™
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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