EFFECTS OF IMPROVISATIONAL MOVEMENT ON BRAIN NETWORKS, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE WITH EARLY-STAGE AD

Dance enhances and preserve physical, emotional, and cognitive function in healthy older adults. Data on the effects of dance in people with dementia (PWD) indicate that dance may improve quality of life(QOL), symptoms of anxiety and depression, and gait and balance(n=1). We compared the effects of an 8-week improvisational dance intervention on QOL, brain networks, balance and neuropsychiatric symptoms in 5 PWD/caregiver dyads and a no-contact control group. Participants were PWD (n=10, 6 women, mean age=73.6) adjudicated through the WFSM Memory Clinic or WFSM Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention Program as having mild cognitive impairment or early-stage dementia of the presumed Alzheimer’s type and their caregivers (n=10, 5 women, mean age=76.9). Before and after the intervention, quality of life was assessed using the QOL-AD for PWD and the SF-36 for caregivers (CG). Neuropsychiatric symptoms were assessed using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). For all participants, balance was tested with the Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale, mindfulness with the Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale (PHLMS), and resting state functional MRI was analyzed with graph-theory methods to assess brain network architecture. Overall, effects of the intervention were larger in PWD than CG. PWD showed statistically significant improvements in balance (β=6.68, 95% CI [1.2 to 12.1], Fig.1) and the awareness subscale of the PHLMS (β=8.25, 95% CI [5.4 to 11.0]). Along with improved balance, there were striking increases in community structure of somatomotor brain regions in PWD (Fig.2). Self-reported QOL improved in 3 of the 5 PWD in the intervention group and declined in 4 of 5 PWD in the control group, although this did not reach statistical significance (β=1.39, 95% CI [-2.3 to 5.0]). Positive results were noted for CG in balance, PHLMS awareness SF-36 general health, SF-36 emotional well-being, and mood, although none of these reached statistical significant. Improved consistency was noted in somatomotor brain networks of CG.