How does practicing Tai chi enhance cognitive-motor interactions
Tai Chi, as an ancient Chinese martial art, is a slow and gentle exercise that combines and improves both motion and mind capabilities. Its practices involve a series of deliberate, flowing movements and deep, slow, and steady breaths.
Tai Chi and Parkinson’s Disease
Motor functions. It is well known that Tai Chi can enhance motion function, especially balancing and postural capabilities. For instance, a recent study from the New England Journal of Medicine conducted by Dr. Sara S. Batya and her group from Eugene, Oregon has revealed that “Tai chi training appears to reduce balance impairments in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease, with additional benefits of improved functional capacity and reduced falls”.
Cognitive functions. Moreover, Tai Chi also improves cognitive functions Dr. Patrizia Mecocci and colleagues have recently published a study in the Journal of Aging Clinical and Experimental Research that Tai Chi practice benefits cognitive health.
Tai Chi and interaction of motor and cognitive capabilities
What intrigues neuroscientists is whether or not Tai Chi practice reorganizes neuro-connectivity, improves the interaction between motor and mental functions, and enhances the neuroplasticity of the brain, which will be particularly crucial for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The answer to that is Yes based on the findings of a recent research article published in the Journal of Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
In this study, Dr. Ming and his colleagues recruited 30 early-stage Parkinson’s disease patients and divided randomly them into 2 even groups with one undergoing Tai Chi practicing and another undergoing traditional physical therapy for 12 weeks. Both groups participated in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and clinical assessments before and after 12 weeks of training. The results have revealed that compared to the physical therapy group, the group with Tai Chi practice has demonstrated significantly enhanced brain functional connectivity. Besides, the improved clinical assessments of motor and cognitive functions are directly associated with functional connectivities in the brain. These findings have demonstrated that Tai Chi-based physical training can promote cognitive-motor interaction and brain plasticity for early-stage Parkinson’s disease patients.
The mechanism
The increased functional connectivities between the brain regions after Tai Chi practice are directly correlated to the improvement of motor and cognitive functions, therefore Tai Chi-based intervention on early-stage Parkinson’s disease patients enhances the interaction of motor and cognitive capabilities by re-incorporating cognitive pathways in motor learning.
In conclusion
This study was the first one to investigate the underlying mechanism of cognitive-motor interaction and it provides. The result of this article provides a promising scientific base for Tai Chi to be included as one of the effective complementary treatments for Parkinson’s disease.