Efficacy of Digital Dance on Brain Imagery, Cognition, and Health: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Multidomain interventions have demonstrable benefits for promoting healthy aging, but self-empowerment strategies to sustain long-term gains remain elusive. Objective: This study evaluated the effects of digital somatosensory dance game participation on brain imagery changes asprimary outcomes and other physical and mental health measures as secondary outcomes related to healthy aging. Methods: Between August 31, 2020, and June 27, 2021, this randomized controlled trial recruited 60 eligible participants olderthan 55 years with no recent engagement in digital dance games. A computer-generated randomization sequence was used toallocate participants 1:1, without stratification, to an intervention group (n=30) who underwent digital somatosensory dance gametraining or a control group (n=30). An anonymized code masked the intervention allocations from the investigators, and individualswho assigned the interventions were not involved in analyzing the study data. The intervention entailed two 30-minute dancegame sessions per week for 6 months, and the control group received healthy aging education. Primary outcomes were brainimagery changes. All variables were measured at baseline and the 6-month follow-up, and intervention effects were estimatedusing ttests with intention-to-treat analyses. Results: Compared with the control group, intervention participants had significantly different brain imagery in the gray mattervolume (GMV) of the left putamen (estimate 0.016, 95% CI 0.008 to 0.024; P<.001), GMV of the left pallidum (estimate 0.02,95% CI 0.006 to 0.034; P=.004), and fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations of the left pallidum (estimate 0.262, 95%CI 0.084 to 0.439; P=.004). Additionally, the intervention group had different imagery in the cerebellum VI GMV (estimate0.011, 95% CI 0.003 to 0.02; P=.01). The intervention group also had improved total Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores(estimate 1.2, 95% CI 0.27 to -2.13; P<.01), quality of life (estimate 7.08, 95% CI 2.35 to 11.82; P=.004), and time spent sittingon weekdays (estimate -1.96, 95% CI -3.33 to -0.60; P=.005). Furthermore, dance performance was significantly associatedwith cognitive performance (P=.003), health status (P=.14), resilience (P=.007), and demoralization (P<.001). Conclusions: Digital somatosensory dance game participation for 6 months was associated with brain imagery changes inmultiple regions involving somatosensory, motor, visual, and attention functions, which were consistent with phenotypicimprovements associated with healthy aging.