The Benefits of Movements

by Bob Brown

I was recently reading an article written by Scott Edwards, Harvard Medical School Correspondent that really got my attention. Many of us have been aware for years that there are positive health benefits to dancing and movement, but this was an up-to-date version with a little different slant.

The header at the top of the article said “Researchers see potential role for dance in treating neurodegenerative disorders and recently began to investigate the complex mental coordination that dance requires.” The article went on to ask, “How many of those who ballroom dance, foxtrot, break dance, square dance, round dance or line dance realize that they are doing something positive for their brains?” Daniel Tarsy, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Center states that, “There’s no question that music has a very stimulating effect on physical activity and I think that applies to dance as well.”

Scientists gave little attention to the neurological effects of dance until recently, when researchers began to investigate the complex mental coordination that dance requires. In a 2008 article in “Scientific American”, a Columbia University neuroscientist said that synchronizing music and movement constitutes a “pleasure double play.” Music stimulates the brain’s reward centers, while dance activates its sensory and motor circuits.

A 2003 study by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and reported in the “New England Journal of Medicine” showed that dance can improve brain health. The study investigated the effect leisure activities had on the risk of dementia in the elderly. The researchers looked at the impact of 11 different types of physical activity, including cycling, golf, swimming, and tennis, but found that only dancing lowered participants’ risk of dementia. The combination of mental effort and social interaction made the difference.

In a small 2012 study, researchers at North Dakota’s Minot State University found that the dance program known as Zumba improves mood and cognitive skills. Other studies have shown that dance helps reduce stress, increases the levels of the “feel-good hormone,” serotonin, and helps develop new neural connections, especially in the regions involved in executive function, long-term memory, and special recognition.

Dance has also been found to be therapeutic for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Dancing is a fabulous addition to a regular course of activity that can include briskly walking, swimming, Tai chi, and lots of other forms of exercise. Our dance (square dancing and round dancing) just has the added benefits of social interaction, mental processing into motor action, moving rhythmically to music, and just plain being fun.

So if you’re looking to add a long term benefit to your health regimen, think about square and/or round dancing. For more info call Bob at 447-0094 or Cindy at 631-8816.

by Eric W Austin

We’ve published a lot of stories over the past year, but which ones stood out from the crowd?

More than 20,000 people visited townline.org in 2017, with pages on the site viewed more than 70,000 times.

One of the advantages of a website over a traditional newspaper is the ability to track which stories are being read the most. Here I’d like to highlight those stories from The Town Line that attracted the most interest over the past year.

This article is based on statistics supplied by Google’s Analytics website tracking service, which monitors activity on townline.org.

Managing editor Roland Hallee’s November story, “China baseball player working to crack lineup at Newbury College,” about Dylan Presby’s impressive scholastic baseball career, claimed the top spot with more than 1,000 views. Presby, of China, went to Erskine Academy where he was named the Kennebec Journal’s Baseball Player of the Year, before being accepted by Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts. There he competes in the Division III New England Collegiate Conference (NECC). Roland writes, “But, that was high school. He has now moved on to a higher level of competition.” Read the entire article on townline.org.

Roland captured the second spot on this list as well, with his terrific (and prescient) column on the lack of birds in 2017. Appropriately titled, “Where have all the birds gone?”, Roland explores that very question and looks at some of the reasons behind the phenomenon. He writes, “The loss of bird populations in the Western Mountains of Maine includes three major causes.”

National Geographic magazine recently declared 2018 the “Year of the Bird,” putting a spotlight on the importance of our avian neighbors. I’m glad to see NatGeo has been reading The Town Line! Be sure to read Roland’s follow-ups as well, including “Update on birds” and “Bird disappearance is a phenomenon that exists nationwide.”

The 2017 Windsor Fair was a rousing success by all accounts and evidently people appreciated that we posted a ‘Schedule of Events’ for the festivities on townline.org. It was the third most visited page on the site this year. Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to do the same thing in 2018!

We began posting the China Police Log on townline.org back in 2016, but this past September’s police log was one of the first stories we posted to our new Facebook page, and it garnered so much interest it came in fourth in our list of 2017’s top pages, being viewed nearly 1,000 times. Big thanks to Tracey Frost, one of China’s part-time police officers who sends it to us every month!

The opioid crisis is often thought of as an epidemic of the big cities, but many rural areas of Central Maine have been affected deeply as well. My article exploring the issue and how it’s impacting our local communities, “Opiates in Central Maine: Not just a national issue,” was viewed close to 700 times. I write, “The solutions we need require not just a change in policy, but a shift in attitude as well.” This is the first article in a continuing series, so look for future installments from The Town Line in the months ahead.

Picking just five stories from 2017 is difficult in a year with so much great writing. Honorable mentions go to the multiple articles — primarily written by guest contributors from the local community — on the question of alewives in our local lakes and streams.

Emily Cates also has had a number of popular articles this year with highlights like: “Wrap your trees in tin foil – The Sure-fire way to protect your trees in wintertime…and puzzle your neighborhood!” Check out more of her great writing in “Garden Works” on townline.org.

The Town Line also launched its new Facebook page in 2017. As of today, more than 400 of you have followed us on Facebook! Like or follow us to see new local stories appear as updates in your Facebook feed. You can find us at facebook.com/townline.org.

This week on townline.org, we’ve set up a special page to highlight the best articles in The Town Line from the past year. Find easy links to the great stories mentioned above, as well as other popular stories from 2017. Look for the ‘Best of 2017’ graphic on the homepage at townline.org.

Eric Austin is a technical consultant and writer living in China, Maine.  He’s also the admin for townline.org.

<– Return to “The Best of The Town Line in 2017″