Dancing hard with others raises your pain threshold, Oxford University researchers report.
Performing synchronised dance moves and vigorous exercise are each known to encourage bonding. The team wanted to test if those things also increase pain tolerance, an indicator of the body's 'feel good' chemicals, endorphins. They tested four groups of teenagers who did either high or low exertion synchronised or unsynchronised dancing. Synchronised activity encouraged bonding and increased pain tolerance more than unsynchronised; more energetic dancing had a similar effect. But the two were not linked - even less energetic activity raises pain tolerance and encourages bonding if it is highly synchronised.
Article: Synchrony and exertion during dance independently raise pain threshold and encourage social bonding, Bronwyn Tarr, Jacques Launay, Emma Cohen, Robin Dunbar, Biology Letters, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0767, published 28 October 2015.