Dancing into Brain Health

Dance has long been described as a universal language — a form of expression that transcends words, cultures, and generations. Through rhythm, gesture, and movement, dance allows us to communicate emotion, tell stories, and connect with one another in deeply human ways. Whether we are moving ourselves or witnessing others move, dance has a remarkable ability to draw us in, awaken something within...

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month 2026, DanceStream Projects executive director Magda Kaczmarska sat down with Mark Timmons, artist, advocate and person living with dementia, for a conversation about the intersections of mental health and brain health. Resources:  Mental Health Month Action Guide https://mhanational.org/2026-mental-health-month-action-guide/ Pathways To Wellbeing with Deme...

Brain health is not merely the absence of disease; it is the sum of our physical, emotional, social, and cognitive well-being. Designing social and physical environments that support brain health as we age is essential to ensuring dignity, autonomy, and security across the lifespan. In this episode of the Dancing into Brain Health Podcast , we are joined by Macarena Espina Díaz, whose work centers...

Creativity is one of the most admired and universal human attributes, taking form across genres, ages, and levels of professionalism. Whether it contributes to an individual’s sense of flow and multimodal expression or inspires awe in those who witness the artistic output of others, creativity undeniably evokes—and amplifies—what makes us most human. From a neuroscientific perspective, creativity...

Even as global populations age and the incidence of dementia continues to increase, the collective narratives of what it means to be aging and living with dementia continue to perpetuate deficit driven, one-note narratives of loss. Such narratives drive fear and stigma, driving wedges between generations, further siloing individuals and expanding age-based isolation. Our guest today on the Dancing...

Dementia in an umbrella condition defined by a change in brain function that affects daily activities. Dementia can be caused by a number of underlying pathologies, but despite extensive advances being made in diagnosis and understanding of some forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, those navigating other forms of dementia are still frequently met with a very different experience, one of...

We launched the Dancing into Brain Health Podcast out of a desire to hold space for conversations that expand our understanding of the role dance can play in supporting and sparking brain health. By bringing together leading researchers, doctors, artists, lived-experience advocates, and thought leaders, the podcast builds new bridges between neuroscience, community practice, and the arts. In the f...

Our senses are one of the primary ways in which we encounter, interact with and make sense of the world around us. But what happens when our sensory perception begins to disintegrate and transform? And how might engaging through the arts help us heal and better understand these conditions? Our guest on the Dancing into Brain Health Podcast is Dr. Anusha Yasoda-Mohan, a perceptual neuroscientist wh...

How do we perceive beauty? How can engaging in art and the pleasure we elicit from it help us make sense, meaning and inspire us toward action in our daily activities? Can the experience of pleasure and beauty through the arts strengthenour health?  Our guest on the Dancing into Brain Health Podcast is Dr. Edward Vessel, a neuroscientist who uses behavior, brain imaging and computation to study th...

This World Alzheimer’s Month, we engage in a topic that is largely under-addressed – youth brain health. Public health recommendations encourage a life course approach to brain health and dementia prevention, however much of the public discourse, research and interventions around these topics center middle and late adulthood. Young adulthood and the potential brain health risk factors are largely...

A strong sense of purpose and meaning is increasingly recognized as having extensive health benefits. Recent studies illustrate the correlation of a strong sense of purpose and meaning in life to promoting better outcomes after a stroke and being associated with a decreased risk of dementia. For many people who receive a diagnosis of dementia, the pervasive narratives which exist in public discour...

Physical activity is one of the key actions we can introduce into our lifestyles producing significant benefits on our lifelong health. Researchers and public health officials advise that engaging in physical activity across the life course influences our health in multiple ways from prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes, reducin...

Recent focus in global research on brain health has emphasized modifiable risk factors which at various points in our life positively influence our brain health trajectories. In fact, as highlighted by the Lancet Commission, we know that approximately 45% of adverse brain health in the form of dementia could be mitigated by 14 risk factors across our life.   Much of this research embraces the unde...

Dance is a powerfully beneficial activity for people living with Parkinson’s Disease. Initially emerging into academic literature in the late 1980s, with a study comparing the impact of dance movement therapy and traditional exercise on the movement symptoms of people living with Parkinson’s Disease, this dance and health approach has inspired numerous studies offering a robust platform for the fi...

How do we define embodiment? How does the study of neuroscience and dance inform practice and vice versa? How might engaging in these inquiries translate into better quality of life for all of us as we age?   In today’s episode of Dancing into Brain Health, our guest is dancer/researcher Dr. Glenna Batson whose multi-decade long career has aligned dance with critical somatic education, human movem...

Which comes first – understanding of action language or the action itself? How are our abilities to describe actions linked to our ability to enact them? In today’s episode of Dancing into Brain Health, our guest is neuroscientist and neurolinguist Dr. Adolfo García whose research is uncovering the neural mechanisms behind motor-language coupling and how this understanding can help individuals who...

Dance has often been called the universal language. Whether engaging with dance as performers or audience members, we often find ourselves transfixed with the ability of this movement-based communication to move us and connect us. In this inaugural episode of Dancing into Brain Health, we uncover the ways dance might indeed help us speak. Our guest is neuroscientist and dancer Dr. Constantina Theo...