Seniors who regularly dance can increase the area of their brain that declines with age, and also show noticeable behavioral changes in terms of improved balance, sciencedaily.com reported Friday quoting a new research. The research recruited two groups of elderly volunteers with an average age of 68. One group practiced constantly changing dance routines of different genres, such as Jazz, Square, Latin-American and Line Dance, and the other took endurance and flexibility training, mainly repetitive exercises, such as cycling or Nordic walking. After 18-month experiment, both groups showed an increase in the hippocampus region of the brain, which is prone to age-related decline and easily affected by Alzheimer's and other age-related diseases. The dancing group also showed remarkable improvement in balance. The research belongs to a broader collection of studies on the cognitive and neural effects of physical and cognitive activity, and it was originally published by Dr Kathrin Rehfeld, based at the German center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany, in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. I believe that everybody would like to live an independent and healthy life, for as long as possible. Physical activity is one of the lifestyle factors that can contribute to this, counteracting several risk factors and slowing down age-related decline. I think dancing is a powerful tool to set new challenges for body and mind, especially in older age, said Rehfeld based on the conclusion of his research. 24 hour wristbandsrainbow wristbandbracelet maker onlinecustom livestrong bracelets
A Shedao pit viper catches a bird on the island of Shedao at the Liaoning Snake Island-Laotie Hill National Nature Reserve.ZHANG CHUNLEI/CHINA DAILY Shedao island covers just 0.73 square kilometers, but is home to tens of thousands of one particular type of serpent Would you be afraid of living alone on a small island with nearly 20,000 snakes? There is nothing to be scared of, said Wang Xiaoping, a researcher with the administrative bureau at the Liaoning Snake Island-Laotie Hill National Nature Reserve. Since he graduated in 2001, Wang has been conducting research on the Shedao pit viper, a poisonous snake found on the island of Shedao in Liaoning province, which is known as Snake Island. He once spent 30 consecutive days on the island, and the most time he has spent there in a single year is a total of 160 days. Many Chinese people seem to have an irrational fear of snakes, he said. When I first visited the island, I covered myself from head to toe, but now I rarely wear gloves or boots. Wang, who has been studying the Shedao pit viper for 16 years, knows his subject well. On the island, each snake usually eats about one or two small birds a year, while in order to save energy, they seldom move, Wang said, adding that they wrap themselves around tree branches or hide in the grass waiting for birds. Located off the southernmost tip of the Liaodong Peninsula in Liaoning, Snake Island, which is about 10 kilometers from the Chinese mainland and covers an area of just 0.73 square km, was named a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2013. Wang always wears a camouflage hat on the island because on his first visit he was bitten on his head by a snake. As far as we knew, being bitten on the arms or legs was not life-threatening, but we had no idea about the head. I was frightened and rushed to receive first aid, Wang said. Fortunately, he was not badly affected by the bite, but he was not so lucky the second time around. During a survey in May 2007, Wang and his colleagues were catching snakes using a long iron rod and then holding them behind the head with thumb and forefinger.
