Dancing for Brain Health and Invisible Illnesses: Highlighting Brain & Life Magazine Articles

Episode Transcript

Dr. Correa:
From the American Academy of Neurology, I'm Dr. Daniel Correa.

Dr. Peters:
And I am Dr. Katy Peters, and this is the Brain & Life Podcast. Well, hello, everyone, and hello, Daniel. How are you doing?

Dr. Correa:
It's a little cold. This gets to that time of year where you just feel like I'm so ready for spring, but you know there's literally months of the winter left. We just keep getting these little snows that they're not even enough to really get a chance to go out and enjoy. It feels like as soon as you get outside and you think, oh, you're going to go to the park and enjoy all the snow, it's already turning to slush again.

Dr. Peters:
I totally agree. And I think Punxsutawney Phil did see, what? Does he see a shadow or not see a shadow? But I think we're getting six more weeks of winter. At least that's what the Punxsutawney Phil said. Now there're mini groundhogs I hear.

Dr. Correa:
Yes. Wow.

Dr. Peters:
And so...

Dr. Correa:
Well, we'll find ways to celebrate the winter coziness with our friends and family and hope that we all just push through.

Dr. Peters:
Yeah. Well, what's great is we can all curl up since it's a little cold outside because the new edition of Brain & Life Magazine just came out, and there's some really awesome articles and we're going to discuss some that we're going to highlight on the podcast today.

Dr. Correa:
Yeah. No, I've enjoyed getting a chance to flip through it and to see, and then also to see some of the new things that are coming out on the website.

Dr. Peters:
Yeah. So often, you and I hear from patients and experts about a certain condition or illness. Sometimes, we note that despite having the same diagnosis, patients can have very different experiences, presentations, and disease courses.
What I found was interesting in an article in this recent issue of Brain & Life Magazine, they actually delved into the concept of an invisible illness or invisible symptoms, and these can be anything from fatigue, pain, headaches, and even a cognitive disorder. Now, Daniel, do you see those in your patients?

Dr. Correa:
Yeah, I mean, this is something that I came just right up in front with when I was training at Walter Reed and my neurology residency.
With the span of the wars and all the different soldiers and individuals coming back with different injuries, there was such a difference between the kind of interactions and expectations people had about an understanding of them being an injured veteran in society when if they had had an amputation or very clearly a physical manifestation of that injury that people could identify and it was easier for them to relate and have... give them grace and how they were managing with things as opposed to those who maybe had a traumatic brain injury but didn't have an injury to their skull that people could see outwardly.
We see this with people who live with seizures and epilepsy. We see it with a lot of the neuroatypical and neurodevelopmental situations. And as you mentioned, and we think we both see, people with headache and chronic pain disorders, it's really often considered an invisible symptom because it's all about how much people will acknowledge the level of pain, discomfort, and disruption in their day. And even that is different from our cultural expectations.
There are... I grew up in a family where everyone was happy to be nice and loud and proud to say if they were not happy with something if they were in pain and stuff, and that's culturally the kind of environment that I live in. And I've had to learn and adapt to really identify the signs and listen to how each people from different perspectives and backgrounds might communicate their level of pain.
What it looks like, 7, 8, 9 out of 10 pain for someone that I recognize as a family member may look very different for someone else who just has a different personality or is from a different cultural background. So there's a lot of really interesting nuances in this.

Dr. Peters:
I completely agree, and it brings it back to sort of the idea when we were talking to one of our Parkinson's experts that... and I think it was Dr. Katie Moore that said this, it is that in the waiting room, everybody may have Parkinson's, but everybody's experience is different.

Dr. Correa:
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Peters:
I'll have patients that have brain tumors, and someone may be in a wheelchair, but next to them is somebody who's not in a wheelchair, and so but they may have both the same symptoms. It's just not visible to us whether it's a moniker of a crutch or a wheelchair or something like a band-aid across your head if you just had surgery.
So I think it's really important to know about those visible symptoms such as fatigue, mood disorders, cognitive challenge, and you mentioned headache. It's well known that patients with multiple sclerosis, they have a whole myriad of symptoms, and fatigue can be really disabling in those patients. But they may also have problems with cognitive dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, visual changes that they don't... you don't see it, but they can definitely have those experiences.
I'm very proud to be part of this platform with Brain & Life Podcast because so many of our guests shared their experiences of going through this like with Bill Wadman when he talked about his migraine headaches and how he couldn't function and work. So I think when I read the article, the things that I took away was really how can we hone in on understanding these invisible symptoms and how do we screen appropriately for them and how do we monitor them appropriately because we have to make it a safe space as providers for our patients to share those things with us.
I recently had a patient who shared with me that he was having sexual dysfunction and that it was affecting him and his partner and that was so important to have that discussion, but it wasn't something that he wasn't wearing a badge in the waiting room that, "I have this problem." So it's important to have that dialogue and that trust with your patients so you can go forward to make shared decisions to help them.

Dr. Correa:
Yeah, and I like that they even broke down some tips. And I think like you were just saying, starting off with that discussion with your physician, speaking to your physician. And we're all prone to that busy environment and we just... we have one thing in our head, whether we're the physicians or even just sometimes in conversation with people in our lives. And so they're often the type of things that we're thinking of with someone who's living with seizures, just wondering how often are they having their seizures and are they taking their medicines.
And it's up to both the medical team, but I think also individuals and families to share some other aspects about what's important to them and about their level of function. How is the condition affecting maybe that level of function? Do they think maybe that's at all related either to the condition or medications? How, in other ways, it may be affecting their daily life, their communication, their interactions with family, and all beyond just a level of pain or beyond the frequency of an event like a headache or seizures so that we can really get to understanding what are more things that are impacting that person's life and working with your physician to manage that.
Another way is also connecting with other people, joining a support group and connecting with others who are experiencing a similar struggle, even if it's a dysfunction or impairment or something that impacts your interaction in daily life or maybe it's even the same medical condition and you might be able to both learn from others, share the learning and perspectives and experiences that you have. These can be incredibly helpful areas that maybe even help you put the words of what you need to go back to and talk with your physician about to help tailor what you found as recommendations online to your specific situation to the medicines that you're on. And a really helpful place to take a look for support groups.
There is a website online called PatientsLikeMe that has groupings of many different types of conditions and symptom conditions, but also any patient organization that represents a medical condition. Some of them you might find when look up organizations related to your medical condition. They might be more research-focused, but even if you contact them, they'll help you find what organization forms support groups from patient organization perspective. For headache disorders, one that is a very common and very helpful resource i to take a look at the American Migraine Foundation. And I know that's one thing that a very common number of people deal with in terms of headache disorders, and they support all headache disorders.
They're called American Migraine Foundation, but they're very helpful, I think, for people dealing with all kinds of headache disorders. Similarly, the Alzheimer's Association for people who have a family member or they themselves are dealing with concerns with early onset dementia, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia and its related conditions. The Alzheimer's Association has support groups to support individuals with all types of dementia. They started with that focus on Alzheimer's, but they support everyone.

Dr. Peters:
And I'm a fan also of the Epilepsy Foundation. I feel like that has a lot of rich information that has been very helpful.

Dr. Correa:
I was just trying not to mention them first since I'm an epileptologist, but yes, I totally agree. Always a huge fan of them.

Dr. Peters:
I will do it for you because I think they're great too. So I agree. One of the things I think is really important is so many of our patients when they have symptoms or they have a diagnosis, people ask them questions about it. Like, "What's going on? What kind of condition you have? What state are you in?" And this is often true for my patients with cancer. They often want to know what's going on with their disease, but it can also happen with just symptoms.
So I think having sort of a script and having that sort of elevator speech can be really helpful, and that's one of the tips that they give. I find that this is particularly helpful for my patients that suffer from neglect. This is where they don't really see one side of the room or don't engage with one side of their body. It may also be the caregiver sometime explaining those situations to others or to even the patient themselves. And so I think that can be beneficial. And the next is if you have these invisible symptoms, whether it's pain, fatigue, you want to also see how that's impacting your mental health.
And there's another article later on we'll discuss about mood disorders, but again, you should really try to tap in and see if you can help with any strategies that can help you cope with that. Because the old adage that I've always heard, "If you felt better, you might feel better," I think it's true. I think it's absolutely true. It does sound like a little witticism or like an old saying, but it does help if you feel better about yourself. If you can have a better mental clarity, maybe some of your symptoms will also be better.

Dr. Correa:
Yeah. And I've had... I like the idea of developing your short speech or description about the issue you're dealing with the condition symptom. And I've had even patients come and ask, "Oh, if I'm going to see another doctor who's not a specialist, what are the key things I need to tell them about my medical condition or if I'm explaining it to someone in my community?" So your physician, your medical care team may help you kind of develop some of those short phrases that really make things very clear.
But remember, it's also if it's something that you need and find helpful. It's not your responsibility to explain your symptoms and condition to others. And similarly, like I said, the doctor might help you with preparing that, but sometimes it just even helping your doctors or letting them speak for you, keeping your contact information for the physicians that you trust and know your medical condition.
If you're seeing a new doctor, if you are showing up and you're traveling and you need some clarity and communication about your medical condition, either contact information for that doctor or even a doctor's letter to explain the situation and maybe things that it needs to be cautioned around or avoided can be very important and help avoid misinterpretations about your medical condition, about what medicines you're taking and help avoid possible medical errors that might impact your health.
Another thing, and like you pointed out, you go into a waiting room. Even in a waiting room, a place where everyone might have the same condition and parentheses, that doesn't mean that they are in the same condition, so don't compare. You have to avoid as much as going to a support group and connecting with others and learning from their experiences. And you want to avoid comparing yourself to others. The recovery from different conditions and brain injuries can vary.
The progression of a neurodegenerative condition or a condition that is affecting or causing breakdown of a neurologic function can be very different at different ages. Can be different based on other medical conditions that you have. The really only place that you can do some comparison is to consider and compare where you are to yourself when a new medicine is started that can help.
And as you taking notes or journaling on how you're doing, that can be helpful, but there's really no way you can compare from one person to another even within families. And we've even seen that in studies of twins with the same medical condition. Each person is unique in how they manifest with all kinds of medical issues. And more than anything else, I think you're all here, you're listening, we're happy to have you, and we're so glad.
And continue to educate and arm yourself with information that you find that is helpful with more information and data about your own medical condition, how you are responding, keeping track of things, or having an easy place to reference for maybe if your medical condition has a lab that is followed closely, having that information can be very helpful if your medical condition significantly impacted by your sleep levels, by things that you take or ingest.
Having some tracking and some data on how well you're sleeping or when you're taking those other items can be a really helpful point to help you get a sense of where you are, help you with your comfort level, and help as a place to go back to if something changes with your medical condition.

Dr. Peters:
Yeah, and I agree with you, definitely arm yourself. But I think also one of the other tips was not only get educated but also accept help. So you need to be willing to open up to accepting help from others, whether you need help from somebody to drive you. This is a very common thing with my patients is that they may not be able to drive.
So having somebody drive them to their appointments because of having a seizure disorder, also helping with certain tasks at home or even things like cooking or other activities of daily living. Definitely, if you're having tough times, ask people to help out. And then, on the flip side, you also have to set boundaries.
We often say, "Educate yourself, talk to people," but you also have to be... Sometimes you can't tell everybody everything. You also have to also save some time for yourself. So if there is something where you need something very specifically like if you do have specific needs such as making something accessible to you to get into a building or whatnot, you do want to communicate those needs so there aren't any misunderstandings.
But again, it's also important to have boundaries when you need to have those boundaries. Daniel, one of those situations, a lot of times I'll have patients that will get sort of unsolicited questions from everybody, and they're like, "Why is Mr. so-and-so talking to me about my illness and I haven't talked to them in a year?" So sometimes it's okay to not have to share everything with everyone.

Dr. Correa:
I mean, having your own way of maybe acknowledging and thanking people for their concern or attention, but having your own way to say no. You need your private space. You're not interested, or you don't find it helpful to talk about this right now. Or very clearly drawing a boundary if it's not even a person that you want to be re-approaching this conversation with.
So one of the other things, and one of the articles as we mentioned that we saw in this recent edition that I wanted to come to is around our own mental health. Many of you have been hearing about terms in terms of the health span rather than just lifespan. And that overlaps with the idea of quality of life, which we were just talking about some. And so many factors can go into each of our physical, mental health and social well-being.
But one key aspect of that I feel like is our mental health that affects how we just frame and see things around us, our own life, the world around us, all impacted by where we are with our own mental health. And many conditions that impact how we function, how we communicate, or even how we move in the world can be associated with a lot of adjustment to just that change and even some depressive symptoms or depression.
But beyond that, conditions that affect our brain or even have associated chronic pain are very frequently found to have an association or have depression and anxiety that co-occurs happens alongside. And that might be more than just the person having to adjust to a change in their pain level or functional level. And for some people, fatigue and energy levels can be a very early feature before they're even noticing a change in their outlook or their enjoyment in things. What do you think, Katy?

Dr. Peters:
I think depression can be just really challenging to diagnose in patients with neurologic conditions because, just as you mentioned, the symptoms overlap. So fatigue, emotional distress can all come with depression, but then depression can also be manifested by just fatigue itself.
And so I think really spending time with the patient and being a good steward to the patient and a good partner and listening to them about where their symptoms are coming from and what is the context is just so critically important because I always say that many problems are usually multifaceted like fatigue or emotional distress.
But if you could find maybe a couple of causes that can have some remedy to it that we want to try to fix something. And so when I have a patient who has fatigue, it's really important for me to find the low-hanging fruit. And while you think that maybe depression or a mood disorder may be hard to diagnose, if it's something that you could intervene on and make people better, I find that it's very satisfying to fix that for the patient.
So if you can do routine depression screening in your patients with neurologic disorders, I think it should be routine. I think you should really try to evaluate it if they're having other symptoms. And we just mentioned invisible symptoms, this could be an invisible symptom itself is depression.

Dr. Correa:
Very much. And for our listeners routine or depression screening doesn't have to be just some questions about how you feel. That is an important way of initial screening. But then, often, it also includes a series of some blood tests and laboratory tests to take a look at medical conditions aside from the one that they already know about that might be impacting your mental health and your mood symptoms. There are various medical conditions that can affect your mood levels and result in depression or anxiety.
And sometimes, some of the medicines that are used to help someone manage a neurologic condition, some of them can be associated with a change in mood. So it's a very important aspect to... And we talked about before the importance of not necessarily comparing yourself to others but having an option for internal comparison and reflection. And so kind of having some memory and thinking back at, "Oh, how was I and how was my mood and checking in with others before I started this new anti-seizure medicine. How was I before I had the stroke?"
And if not, and you're noticing you're having more depression symptoms afterwards, then sometimes that can be a very helpful reflection. And it may not be, as I said, related purely to just a change in function. Some people might have their depression symptoms start to come out actually when some of their movement and motor symptoms or functional symptoms are improving after stroke. There's lots of different complexities there.
And like many things, I think getting a sense of and following and noting your own function and mood symptoms can be important. A lot of times now the phone and watches and all these smart devices have all these things that prompt you to sort of check in, but in whatever way that you find easiest of keeping note, in a calendar and your journal, and that self-reflection can help you be more prepared in a discussion with your physicians.
But again, remember that those around us, like family and friends, can often provide key insights. Sometimes, we don't see things even about ourselves, or we don't want to acknowledge it until we've opened up and had a conversation about it with those around us. And then their awareness of it can help really deepen our own understanding of ourselves. And I think actually I find it opens up even deeper and more meaningful conversations with those that we love and support.

Dr. Peters:
Our patients will often bring multiple people in the room with them when they come to appointments. And there's often the patient has their experience, and then it's the caregivers they almost have their own sort of chief concern. We've often talk about a chief complaint, but the caregivers can have a chief concern. And often, I'll ask the patient, "Have you noticed any problems with your mood or changes in your mood?" And they were like, "No." And then, the caregiver is like... wants to say something.
And so I hope that we can keep the dialogue open because again, and I'm going to say this over and over again, we can do stuff for our patients with mood disorders and depression. There are very good treatments for this. Of course, the obvious ones are ones like antidepressants such as the SSRIs, but there can also be just therapy like cognitive behavioral therapy is a very good treatment. There's some newer treatments that are being studied such as esketamine and also transmagnetic stimulation that are being used in depression.
And then, sometimes, even just being active using physical therapy and occupational therapy can really help with improving independence and also your well-being, which can have a trickle-down effect on your mood. And then we tout on this podcast and also in the magazine is that all the complementary therapies if we can start moving more if we can have a healthier diet. Of course, sleep is so linked to our mood and what kind of sleep we're getting. And, of course, also support groups to help us with sharing of those experiences and providing coping strategies.
Also, in the article, they pointed out that doing some volunteering and finding peer support. There was patients highlighted in the article said that it was really beneficial for them. And I've had patients that have agreed with those experiences. And then also, this is when you want to reach out about building sort of networks, whether it's in the form of a support group or peer support, but then also just having a therapist.
I often will find if I have a patient and I finally convince them to go to a therapist or to go to a psychiatrist or to go to a support group, I would say it has been much, much more common for them to come back to me and say, "Thank you for doing that. Thank you for really encouraging me to take that next step because you can feel better."

Dr. Correa:
And what do you say? I mean, because I've had some situations where someone's like, "Ah, I've been to a therapist in the past, or I've been to a psychiatrist before. It didn't work for me." How do you help them consider and manage that expectation or in that previous experience?

Dr. Peters:
It's just like finding a good partner. You have to find someone that you really trust with. And sometimes, if you know... As a provider myself, I know many psychiatric providers. Full disclosure. I'm married to a psychiatrist. Full disclosure. Everybody knows this. But again, sometimes you can make some matches and some connections.
There is a great website that I learned about, Psychology Today, which will match up you to a therapist that is licensed in your catchment area. But then you can also use a filter that say, "Well, I want somebody who's a certain age, and I want somebody that is a certain type of person that looks into a certain..." You can actually filter sort of your likes and dislikes just like you're shopping on the web.
But I learned about that Psychology Today website from our child life specialist here at Duke, Jean Hartford-Todd, who's been here for over 20 years in treating our children whose parents have cancer or a cancer brain tumor diagnosis. And so she was a great resource, and I've shared that so many times with patients in clinic. I was like, "Ah, let's go through the filter together and see if there's someone in your neighborhood." So don't give up. You will find someone that fits with you.

Dr. Correa:
Yeah, I mean, I totally acknowledge it's a mess out there trying to find doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists that are covered under our insurances, getting appointments. There's a lot of times a lot of backlog and backup to be able to get even appointments in care for primary care. I totally understand that. But I agree totally with you. It takes... It can take a little bit of time.
It might take seeing a few different physicians or psychiatrists for specific to a medical condition, including mental health to really find someone that you connect with that you feel like you can speak comfortably with, especially in the context of mood disorders and mental health and behavioral therapies, because that interaction and communication is so important. And there are so many types and strategies to different therapies that it might be that a different approach for you in the past didn't work.
You should always try giving that feedback to the therapists or psychiatrists that you're seeing that you want to try a different approach if you feel like it's not working for you, and they may make that adaptation with you, or they may even have a suggestion of someone else, but don't give up because it's your mental health. It's your mood, your quality of life. And there are many options out there. Unfortunately, it takes some time, a lot of effort to get those appointments and then get things confirmed and authorized and covered by the insurances. That's the world we're in now.

Dr. Peters:
Yeah, and I agree with you with the insurance question, but they are out there. Those therapists are out there. I was just at a social engagement with my husband's office, and I was just amazed with... There were psychologists there, and therapists and social workers, and what I realized is they all had very different niches.
And I was like, "Wow, I can't wait to refer more patients to you." So I was like... So they are out there, so don't get discouraged. I always like to think about things that pick me up. If I'm little down or a little tired, I'd say the number one thing I do is I get moving. So I'm definitely a project generator, like to move, like to exercise, and I love to dance.
And I know, Daniel, you're a big fan of dancing and sing dance productions, and you're in NYC, so you get to go out there and see some maybe... something on a very larger stage than I do. But now, do you also indulge? Do you dance yourself? I mean, is your style like a waltz or a tango? What do you like?

Dr. Correa:
Well, I definitely have a very deep and strong respect for the professional dancers. I do like movement. I like the dance. I wouldn't necessarily compare it in any way to the level of beauty and movement that I get to see on stage when I go watch dance performances. So I'm not quite a ballroom dancer. Not much waltz or tango for me. We have tried it.
It was a fun exercise. But I grew up in a household just very casually and for all the holidays, dancing salsa and merengue. That's like an internalized rhythm. And my wife just laughs at me sometimes because I'll try. We'll go to something, and they'll be playing a waltz or something like that, and I'll kind of follow her, do the steps for a little bit, and then slip into a salsa or merengue step.

Dr. Peters:
Oh, I love that.

Dr. Correa:
And then she's like, "Okay." Yeah. So I tend to default to salsa and merengue. Don't get to do it as much now as I did before. And when we go out with friends, and there's good music that we like, I'm a child of the 80s and 90s, so I love the music of that era, but I have to admit, even listening to that music half the time I'm just following the rhythm of the music and then making some merengue moves fit along. But hey, it works.

Dr. Peters:
So it's too bad that this isn't filmed because I would love to stand up and see some of those merengue moves. I love to dance. I was in dance classes from the age of five all the way up to the age of 18. And then, I did cheerleading in high school and college. And so we had our pom-pom routines and did all that dancing and associated with that.
So I've always seen dance as really sort of an exercise component. But my new thing is I just love all the TikTok dance trends, and so I'm always trying to convince my nurse in clinic to learn them with me, and sometimes I'm successful. So I did the apple dance. I was really good at that for a while. But we're not going to show that here. But have you tried any of those TikTok dances?

Dr. Correa:
I have danced along with my niece before.

Dr. Peters:
Okay.

Dr. Correa:
But I'm definitely not necessarily recording and posting any of these dance challenges. I prefer when I'm dancing to be mindful and present and not thinking about what it's going to look like on a video.

Dr. Peters:
Yes, and not falling over. So none of mine is taped yet, so who knows? That may be something else. But the reason why we're talking about dance is there's this great article in the new edition of the Brain & Life Magazine that talks about how dance can actually promote brain health. And I read the article and what was fascinating is is that [inaudible 00:33:08] talked about a myriad of conditions, such conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which we've talked about.
And I just found the article very hopeful and I was really excited because there was a lot of deep science that was in there. Now, these are small studies that were done. It's really hard to do a big study of all ballroom dancing, but my favorite study was one that was published in 2018 in a journal called PLOS ONE, where they compared dancing versus just exercising on a bicycle.
And it was really an exploratory study, and it had really elderly patients, so ages from 63 to 80. And in general, they did a series of tests on all of them to look at their cognition, but they also looked at their MRIs to look at the structure of their brain, and they even did blood tests for a particular marker called BDNF, which is also known as brain-derived neurotrophic factors. So protein in the brain that sort of helps the nerve cells function and helps the nerve survival.
And what they found is they compared these older patients that were getting sort of these difficult choreographed dance routines or exercise versus just regular exercise on a bike, and what they found is the levels of that BDNF, that chemical that helps support your nervous cells or your nerve cells, actually was increased. Moreover, they found that certain parts of the brain were essentially more employed during the time.
They used larger volumes of their brain when they were dancing. And it could just be that the choreography is more complex, and so you're having to turn on different parts of your brain to sort of coordinate with both one side and the other. I still don't know my right from left, but again, and also to keep count. Maybe you also have to engage with the music when you're dancing. So you're using so many things.
You're using your visual system, you're using your auditory system, and then you're also using coordination and muscle strength and sensation to keep you up. So the engagement of the brain is just so much more they determined in the study. Now, it was a small number of patients. It was only 38 participants in the study, but I thought it was really cool how they were able to look across that and how you can sort of use dance in that way.

Dr. Correa:
Yeah, I mean, some of our listeners may recall with our expert from a few weeks ago, Dr. Jori Fleisher, in those episodes around Parkinson's, we talked about the variety of movements that may contribute to overall brain health but also improve in Parkinson's. This is an example of how she said there have been some small studies that seem to suggest certain types of movement might be better.
But so far, we're seeing in much larger studies just picking the movement, that type that you like, that you enjoy, that may be the most effective way of improving your brain health, improving your functional level from your medical... from the medical condition that you live with. With time, hopefully, we'll learn if there are specific activities. It'd be fun to know that dancing in some ways might be better, I mean, in creating greater function because of that complexity.
Maybe there's something also about interaction and touch with another person. Raises the question, "Oh, is there a difference from martial arts to dance or not because you have similar complexity and movements and interaction with other people?" These are all things that more research is needed but don't wait for more research to do your own movement. A lot of... Like Dr. Fleisher had pointed out, a lot of the most effective and beneficial interventions have been the ones that people stuck with.
You chose to do it, you enjoyed it, and you kept doing it. So I think that's the most important thing to take away from this. What's great is in this group of individuals that stuck with the dancing because they enjoyed it and they participate in it, that they had really positive outcomes and many factors for their brain function, their brain structure, and their physical status.
And so I think if dance is your thing, it seems like there's a possibility it's going to have great impact. If it's another thing, then I wouldn't necessarily think this tells us that it's worse than dance, but if you're enjoying it and you're sticking with it, looking for some creativity and any type of movement and exercise activity, these studies seem to be suggesting is that there are many possible types of benefits for your brain.

Dr. Peters:
Well, I'm going to get out there and start dancing again.

Dr. Correa:
Yeah, this definitely is making me think, all right, I'm going to do a little... maybe my wife and I are going to start doing a little bit of dancing at home in the evenings and the weekends just for fun or maybe go out some more, but I won't devalue any of the other exercises, yoga or running, and otherwise that I'm doing. I think those are still doing a great benefit for me.

Dr. Peters:
Yeah, absolutely. You can just do a little bit of each, a little bit of each.

Dr. Correa:
Well, this has been so much fun. I'm really looking forward to finishing the articles. We'll have links to these articles, the titles being Understanding the Impact of Invisible Illnesses on Daily Life. And then we talked about the article, Why It's Important to Recognize Signs of Depression in People with Neurologic Disorders. And lastly, we were just talking about how dance promotes brain health.
We'll have links to the articles and more information about the magazine and this recent issue in the show notes. Thank you all, and please send us more of your questions. We're coming up and preparing a new episode with your questions. Thank you again for joining us today on the Brain & Life Podcast. Follow and subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss our weekly episodes. You can also sign up to receive the Brain & Life Magazine for free at brainandlife.org.

Dr. Peters:
Also, for each episode, you can find out how to connect with our team and our guests, along with great resources in our show notes. We love it when we hear your ideas or questions. You can send these in an email to blpodcast@brainandlife.org and leave us a message at 612-928-6206.

Dr. Correa:
You can also find that information in our show notes, and you can follow Katy and me and the Brain & Life Magazine on many of your preferred social media channels. We are your host, Dr. Daniel Correa, connecting with you from New York City and online @NeuroDrCorrea.

Dr. Peters:
And Dr. Katy Peters joining you from Durham, North Carolina, and online @KatyPetersMDPhD.

Dr. Correa:
Most importantly, thank you and all of our community members that trust us with their health and everyone living with neurologic conditions.

Dr. Peters:
We hope, together, we can take steps to better brain health, and each thrive with our own abilities every day.

Dr. Correa:
Before you start the next episode, we would appreciate if you could give us five stars and leave a review. This helps others find the Brain & Life Podcast. See you next week.

Dancing for Brain Health and Invisible Illnesses: Highlighting Brain & Life Magazine Articles

Additional Resources

Other Brain & Life Episodes on this Topic

Follow us!

Episode Transcript