Don't just believe us at Joyful Boogie. Look at the published evidence regarding the benefits of music and dance for elders.
ARTICLES and STUDIES on the benefits of DANCE
This article focusses on an 18-week-study, "Dancing as Fitness or Sport", published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience that shows an increase of the Hippocampus in seniors who danced weekly. Study also included:

elderly_who_dance_regularly_have_brains_as_young_as_teens.pdf |

dancing_as_fitness_or_sport_study.pdf |

dancing_can_reverse_the_signs_of_aging_in_the_brain.pdf |

leisure_activities_and_the_risk_of_dementia_in_the_elderly.pdf |

dancing_makes_you_smarter.pdf |

6_health_benefits_of_dancing_-_agingcare.pdf |

why_more_older_people_are_should_give_dancing_a_whirl___society___the_guardian.pdf |

seniors_can_improve_their_health_through_dancing.pdf |

physical_benefits_of_dancing_for_healthy_older_adults__a_review.pdf |

the_benefits_of_dance_for_the_elderly_-_best_of_home_care.pdf |

cognitive_benefits_of_social_dancing_and_walking_in_old_age__the_dancing_mind_randomized_controlled_trial.pdf |

the_benefits_of_dance_for_senior_citizens___erickson_living.pdf |
Music Affects the Brain
Alive Inside - award winning feature length documentary, 2014
Dan Cohen. Music and Memory
YouTube pay to play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVWh1sF9TFk
Dan Cohen fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music's ability to combat memory loss - Alive Inside is a joyous cinematic exploration of music's capability to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity. Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett chronicles the astonishing experiences of individuals around the country whose minds have been revitalized and awakened by the simple act of listening to the music of their youth.
Dan Cohen. Music and Memory
YouTube pay to play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVWh1sF9TFk
Dan Cohen fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music's ability to combat memory loss - Alive Inside is a joyous cinematic exploration of music's capability to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity. Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett chronicles the astonishing experiences of individuals around the country whose minds have been revitalized and awakened by the simple act of listening to the music of their youth.
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
Dr. Oliver Sacks
Cambridge Forum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqKry0gh_NA
Neurologist Oliver Sacks discusses his book "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain," at Cambridge Forum. Sacks argues that music is essential to being human in ways that have only begun to be understood.
Dr. Oliver Sacks
Cambridge Forum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqKry0gh_NA
Neurologist Oliver Sacks discusses his book "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain," at Cambridge Forum. Sacks argues that music is essential to being human in ways that have only begun to be understood.
Music on the Brain
Jessica Grahn
TEDx Waterloo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1vlTI0EsPk
Cognitive Neuroscientist dedicated to how music affects the brain, with a concentration on rhythm.
Jessica Grahn
TEDx Waterloo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1vlTI0EsPk
Cognitive Neuroscientist dedicated to how music affects the brain, with a concentration on rhythm.
This is Your Brain on Music
Chicago Ideas Lecture
Dr. Daniel J. Levintin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c7d5W0_NPA&t=2
Chicago Ideas Lecture
Dr. Daniel J. Levintin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c7d5W0_NPA&t=2
Music On Our Minds, Stanford University, Daniel Levitin - poses that music is part of collective human identity
Article and Study from McGill University on music and identity
The Impact of Music on Identity
More Than a Feeling interview on MedicalResearch.com
The Impact of Music on Identity
More Than a Feeling interview on MedicalResearch.com
Groove Music Stimulates Prefrontal Cortex Function
Scientific Reports
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11324-3#Tab1
Scientific Reports
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11324-3#Tab1

more_than_a_feeling__emotional_cues_impact_the_access_and_experience_of_autobiographical_memories.pdf |
Musical pleasure compares to the pleasure received from sex and drugs
Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music, Nature Neuroscience
Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music, Nature Neuroscience

anhedonia_to_music_and_mu-opioids__evidence_from_the_administration_of_naltrexone.pdf |
Head movements encode emotions during speech and song - how music evokes emotional expression by jesture

psycnet.pdf |
Musical Nostalgia: The Psychology and Neuroscience for Song Preference, Slate.com ***BEST summary of this topic that I have found***
The Reminiscence Bump - memories from age 10-30 that stick for life

self-centered-memories-the-reminiscence-bump-and-the-self.pdf |
LECTURES on the benefits of MUSIC and RHYTHM
Facilitating Drum Circles
Katherine T Robinson and Sally G. Robinson, Music Therapist
TEDx Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tUcHWIU5FY
Katherine T Robinson and Sally G. Robinson, Music Therapist
TEDx Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tUcHWIU5FY
Drumming and your Brain: Magic and Science
Cornell Coley, Afro Latin and Community Drum Teacher
TEDx Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYG2BrrzY54
Cornell Coley, Afro Latin and Community Drum Teacher
TEDx Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYG2BrrzY54
Empowering Through Rhythm
Eric Barnhill
TEDx Bermuda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi851xP6ev4&t=957s
Eric Barnhill
TEDx Bermuda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi851xP6ev4&t=957s
“The World in Six Songs”
Dr. Daniel L. Levintin
Talks at Google
August 28, 2008
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn45Z9X-vg
Dr. Daniel L. Levintin
Talks at Google
August 28, 2008
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn45Z9X-vg
Articles and studies on the benefits of exercise with older adults
Exercise, Even In Small Doses, Offers Big Benefits For Older AdultsJudith Graham, Kaiser Health News
October, 2016
Next Avenue Article on Small Doses of Exercise
October, 2016
Next Avenue Article on Small Doses of Exercise
Ellen Langer's Counterclockwise Study
Harvard therapist conducted a groundbreaking study where a group of 75-year-old men lived for a week as though is was 1959 and their physicality reversed the aging process.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/magazine/what-if-age-is-nothing-but-a-mind-set.html
http://www.ellenlanger.com/books/1/counterclockwise
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/magazine/what-if-age-is-nothing-but-a-mind-set.html
http://www.ellenlanger.com/books/1/counterclockwise
The Experience of Safety in older adults
Anxiety is prevalent and difficult to diagnose with older adults.
The Silent Geriatric Giant: Anxiety Disorders in Late LifeKeri-Leigh Cassidy, MD; Neil A. Rector, PhD
DISCLOSURES Geriatrics and Aging. 2008;11(3):150-156.
The Silent Geriatric Giant: Anxiety Disorders in Late LifeKeri-Leigh Cassidy, MD; Neil A. Rector, PhD
DISCLOSURES Geriatrics and Aging. 2008;11(3):150-156.
Creativity in children and adultsThe Failure Of Success
Dr. George Land gives us a brief history of human innovation and talks about the importance of creativity. TEDx Tuscon |
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George Land Creativity Test - How imagination and creativity are an innate part of being human, but is trained out kids by age 15.
Loneliness in Elders
Relationships and physical effects of loneliness in the elderly - and how to remedy this

combatting_the_epidemic_of_loneliness_in_seniors_-_agingcare.com.pdf |
Geriatric Depression
Emotions and Depression, Finding and facing intense emotions, Psychology Today
What Everyone Needs to Know about Geriatric Depression, Psychology Today
Aging and Isolation - Causes and Impacts
What Everyone Needs to Know about Geriatric Depression, Psychology Today
Aging and Isolation - Causes and Impacts

aging___isolation_—_causes_and_impacts.pdf |
Meditation and Elders
7 Ways Meditation can Actually Change the Brain, Forbes
The Surprising Benefits of Meditation and Prayer, SeniorLifestyle.com
Meditation May Alter Brain, Delay Aging, Fox News
Neural basis for benefits of meditation, Brown University
Anxious? Activate your anterior cingulate cortex with a little meditation, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
The Surprising Benefits of Meditation and Prayer, SeniorLifestyle.com
Meditation May Alter Brain, Delay Aging, Fox News
Neural basis for benefits of meditation, Brown University
Anxious? Activate your anterior cingulate cortex with a little meditation, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center