Impact of Amazonian Dance on Speech Performance in People with Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

Dance-based interventions have consistently been shown to improve limb motor function in Parkinsons disease (PD), yet their potential impact on other motor domains, particularly those supporting laryngeal-orofacial control needed for speech production, remains largely unexplored. Beyond motor speech functions, dance may also influence higher-order language processes, including semantic organization. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a 12-week randomized trial comparing an Amazonian Dance intervention to a matched-physical intensity control condition (Nordic Walking), incorporating automated speech and language analysis to provide objective, fine-grained quantification of communication outcomes. Participants in the dance arm showed significant improvements in prosody (Main Tone), voice quality (Harmonic to Noise Ratio), and semantic organization (Granularity), whereas the walking group showed declines in these metrics. The dance-related gains in prosody and semantics remained significant even after adjusting for demographic, cognitive, and clinical covariates. These findings suggest that dance may enhance both speech-motor and higher-order language functions in PD, potentially through mechanisms such as auditory-motor coupling, improved internal timing, and the engagement of overlapping neural substrates between dance and speech and/or language.