Supplementary motor area and primary auditory cortex activation in an expert break-dancer during the kinesthetic motor imagery of dance to music

The Neuroscience of Dance: A Conceptual Framework and Systematic Review

Ancient and culturally universal, dance pervades many areas of life and has multiple benefits. In this article, we provide a conceptual framework and systematic review, as a guide for researching the neuroscience of dance. We identified relevant articles following PRISMA guidelines, and summarised and evaluated all original results. We identified avenues for future research in: the interactive and collective aspects of dance; groove; dance performance; dance observation; and dance therapy. Furthermore, the interactive and collective aspects of dance constitute a vital part of the field but have received almost no attention from a neuroscientific perspective so far. Dance and music engage overlapping brain networks, including common regions involved in perception, action, and emotion. In music and dance, rhythm, melody, and harmony are processed in an active, sustained pleasure cycle giving rise to action, emotion, and learning, led by activity in specific hedonic brain networks. The neuroscience of dance is an exciting field, which may yield information concerning links between psychological processes and behaviour, human flourishing, and the concept of eudaimonia.

Sensing Technology for Assessing Motor Behavior in Ballet: A Systematic Review

Background

Human performance in classical ballet is a research field of growing interest in the past decades. Technology used to acquire data in human movement sciences has evolved, and is specifically being applied to evaluate ballet movements to better understand dancers’ profiles. We aimed to systematically review sensing technologies that were used to extract data from dancers, in order to improve knowledge regarding the performance of ballet movements through quantification.

Methods

PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were accessed through 2020. All studies that used motor control tools to evaluate classical ballet movements, and possible comparisons to other types of dance and sports movements were selected. Pertinent data were filled into a customized table, and risk of bias was carefully analyzed.

Results

Eighty studies were included. The majority were regarding classical ballet and with pre-professional dancers. Forty-four studies (55%) used two or more types of technology to collect data, showing that motion capture technique, force plates, electromyography, and inertial sensors are the most frequent ways to evaluate ballet movements.

Discussion

Research to evaluate ballet movements varies greatly considering study design and specific intervention characteristics. Combining two or more types of technology may increase data reliability and optimize the characterization of ballet movements. A lack of studies addressing muscle–brain interaction in dancers were observed, and given the potential of novel insights, further studies in this field are warranted. Finally, using quantitative tools opens the perspective of defining what is considered an elite dancer.

The Effect of Juggling as Dual-Task Activity on Human Neuroplasticity: A Systematic Review

This systematic review formulated a research question based on the PICO method in accordance with the Guidelines for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), “What is the effect of juggling as dual-task activity on neuroplasticity in the human brain?” In total, 1982 studies were analysed, 11 of which met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. These studies included 400 participants who had no prior juggling experience or were expert jugglers. The research methodology in seven studies was based on a long-term intervention with juggling. Three studies were based on brain imaging during the act of juggling, and one study was based on comparing differences between experienced jugglers and non-jugglers without the intervention. In all of these selected studies, positive structural changes in the human brain were found, including changes mainly in the gray matter (GM) volume in the visual motion complex area (hMT/V5) and the white matter (WM) volume in fractional anisotropy (FA). Based on this evidence, it can be concluded that the bimanual juggling task, as a dual-task activity, may effectively integrate brain areas to improve neuroplasticity. The small number of well-designed studies and the high risk of bias call for further research using a juggling intervention to identify conclusive evidence.

Neural Correlates of a Trance Process and Alternative States of Consciousness in a Traditional Healer

Trance processes are a form of altered states of consciousness (ASC) widely reported across cultures. Entering these states is often linked to auditory stimuli such as singing, chanting, or rhythmic drumming. While scientific research into this phenomenon is relatively nascent, there is emerging interest in investigating the neural correlates of altered states of consciousness such as trance. This report aims to add to this field of ASC through exploring how the perception of an experienced Sangoma (traditional South African healer) entering a trance process correlates to blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal modulation with auditory stimuli. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data were analyzed using a General Linear Model comparing music versus no music condition multiplied by the percept of experiencing trance (High or Low). Positive BOLD activation was shown in the auditory cortex in both hemispheres during a trance process. Other brain regions tightly correlated to trance perception were the right parietal, right frontal, and area prostriata (p < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). The orbitofrontal cortex (part of the Default Mode Network) was negatively activated and most correlated with music when trance was high, showing the largest differential between high and low trance perception. This is the first study to directly correlate BOLD signal variations in an expert subject’s percept of trance onset and intensity, providing insight into the neural signature and dynamics of this unique form of ASC. Future studies should examine in greater detail the perception of trance processes in expert subjects, adding other neuroimaging modalities to further investigate how these brain regions are modulated by trance expertise.

A Practice-Inspired Mindset for Researching the Psychophysiological and Medical Health Effects of Recreational Dance (Dance Sport)

“Dance” has been associated with many psychophysiological and medical health effects. However, varying definitions of what constitute “dance” have led to a rather heterogenous body of evidence about such potential effects, leaving the picture piecemeal at best. It remains unclear what exact parameters may be driving positive effects. We believe that this heterogeneity of evidence is partly due to a lack of a clear definition of dance for such empirical purposes. A differentiation is needed between (a) the effects on the individual when the activity of “dancing” is enjoyed as a dancer within different dance domains (e.g., professional/”high-art” type of dance, erotic dance, religious dance, club dancing, Dance Movement Therapy (DMT), and what is commonly known as hobby, recreational or social dance), and (b) the effects on the individual within these different domains, as a dancer of the different dance styles (solo dance, partnering dance, group dance; and all the different styles within these). Another separate category of dance engagement is, not as a dancer, but as a spectator of all of the above. “Watching dance” as part of an audience has its own set of psychophysiological and neurocognitive effects on the individual, and depends on the context where dance is witnessed. With the help of dance professionals, we first outline some different dance domains and dance styles, and outline aspects that differentiate them, and that may, therefore, cause differential empirical findings when compared regardless (e.g., amount of interpersonal contact, physical exertion, context, cognitive demand, type of movements, complexity of technique and ratio of choreography/improvisation). Then, we outline commonalities between all dance styles. We identify six basic components that are part of any dance practice, as part of a continuum, and review and discuss available research for each of them concerning the possible health and wellbeing effects of each of these components, and how they may relate to the psychophysiological and health effects that are reported for “dancing”: (1) rhythm and music, (2) sociality, (3) technique and fitness, (4) connection and connectedness (self-intimation), (5) flow and mindfulness, (6) aesthetic emotions and imagination. Future research efforts might take into account the important differences between types of dance activities, as well as the six components, for a more targeted assessment of how “dancing” affects the human body.

Expert Event Segmentation of Dance Is Genre-Specific and Primes Verbal Memory

By chunking continuous streams of action into ordered, discrete, and meaningful units, event segmentation facilitates motor learning. While expertise in the observed repertoire reduces the frequency of event borders, generalization of this effect to unfamiliar genres of dance and among other sensorimotor experts (musicians, athletes) remains unknown, and was the first aim of this study. Due to significant overlap in visuomotor, language, and memory processing brain networks, the second aim of this study was to investigate whether visually priming expert motor schemas improves memory for words related to one’s expertise. A total of 112 participants in six groups (ballet, Bharatanatyam, and “other” dancers, athletes, musicians, and non-experts) segmented a ballet dance, a Bharatanatyam dance, and a non-dance control sequence. To test verbal memory, participants performed a retrieval-induced forgetting task between segmentation blocks. Dance, instrument, and sport word categories were included to probe the second study aim. Results of the event segmentation paradigm clarify that previously-established expert segmentation effects are specific to familiar genres of dance, and do not transfer between different types of experts or to non-dance sequences. Greater recall of dance category words among ballet and Bharatanatyam dancers provides novel evidence for improved verbal memory primed by activating familiar sensorimotor representations.

Early auditory processing in musicians and dancers during a contemporary dance piece

The neural responses to simple tones and short sound sequences have been studied extensively. However, in reality the sounds surrounding us are spectrally and temporally complex, dynamic and overlapping. Thus, research using natural sounds is crucial in understanding the operation of the brain in its natural environment. Music is an excellent example of natural stimulation which, in addition to sensory responses, elicits vast cognitive and emotional processes in the brain. Here we show that the preattentive P50 response evoked by rapid increases in timbral brightness during continuous music is enhanced in dancers when compared to musicians and laymen. In dance, fast changes in brightness are often emphasized with a significant change in movement. In addition, the auditory N100 and P200 responses are suppressed and sped up in dancers, musicians and laymen when music is accompanied with a dance choreography. These results were obtained with a novel event-related potential (ERP) method for natural music. They suggest that we can begin studying the brain with long pieces of natural music using the ERP method of electroencephalography (EEG) as has already been done with functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), these two brain imaging methods complementing each other.

Online and Offline Performance Gains Following Motor Imagery Practice: A Comprehensive Review of Behavioral and Neuroimaging Studies

There is now compelling evidence that motor imagery (MI) promotes motor learning. While MI has been shown to influence the early stages of the learning process, recent data revealed that sleep also contributes to the consolidation of the memory trace. How such "online" and "offline" processes take place and how they interact to impact the neural underpinnings of movements has received little attention. The aim of the present review is twofold: (i) providing an overview of recent applied and fundamental studies investigating the effects of MI practice (MIP) on motor learning; and (ii) detangling applied and fundamental findings in support of a sleep contribution to motor consolidation after MIP. We conclude with an integrative approach of online and offline learning resulting from intense MIP in healthy participants, and underline research avenues in the motor learning/clinical domains.

Lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC) activity is greatest while viewing dance compared to visualization and movement: learning and expertise effects

The lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC) is comprised of subregions selectively activated by images of human bodies (extrastriate body area, EBA), objects (lateral occipital complex, LO), and motion (MT+). However, their role in motor imagery and movement processing is unclear, as are the influences of learning and expertise on its recruitment. The purpose of our study was to examine putative changes in LOTC activation during action processing following motor learning of novel choreography in professional ballet dancers. Subjects were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging up to four times over 34 weeks and performed four tasks: viewing and visualizing a newly learned ballet dance, visualizing a dance that was not being learned, and movement of the foot. EBA, LO, and MT+ were activated most while viewing dance compared to visualization and movement. Significant increases in activation were observed over time in left LO only during visualization of the unlearned dance, and all subregions were activated bilaterally during the viewing task after 34 weeks of performance, suggesting learning-induced plasticity. Finally, we provide novel evidence for modulation of EBA with dance experience during the motor task, with significant activation elicited in a comparison group of novice dancers only. These results provide a composite of LOTC activation during action processing of newly learned ballet choreography and movement of the foot. The role of these areas is confirmed as primarily subserving observation of complex sequences of whole-body movement, with new evidence for modification by experience and over the course of real world ballet learning.

Tracking Plasticity: Effects of Long-Term Rehearsal in Expert Dancers Encoding Music to Movement

Our knowledge of neural plasticity suggests that neural networks show adaptation to environmental and intrinsic change. In particular, studies investigating the neuroplastic changes associated with learning and practicing motor tasks have shown that practicing such tasks results in an increase in neural activation in several specific brain regions. However, studies comparing experts and non-experts suggest that experts employ less neuronal activation than non-experts when performing a familiar motor task. Here, we aimed to determine the long-term changes in neural networks associated with learning a new dance in professional ballet dancers over 34 weeks. Subjects visualized dance movements to music while undergoing fMRI scanning at four time points over 34-weeks. Results demonstrated that initial learning and performance at seven weeks led to increases in activation in cortical regions during visualization compared to the first week. However, at 34 weeks, the cortical networks showed reduced activation compared to week seven. Specifically, motor learning and performance over the 34 weeks showed the typical inverted-U-shaped function of learning. Further, our result demonstrate that learning of a motor sequence of dance movements to music in the real world can be visualized by expert dancers using fMRI and capture highly significant modeled fits of the brain network variance of BOLD signals from early learning to expert level performance.

New framework for rehabilitation - fusion of cognitive and physical rehabilitation: the hope for dancing

Neurorehabilitation programs are commonly employed with the goal to help restore functionality in patients. However, many of these therapies report only having a small impact. In response to the need for more effective and innovative approaches, rehabilitative methods that take advantage of the neuroplastic properties of the brain have been used to aid with both physical and cognitive impairments. Following this path of reasoning, there has been a particular interest in the use of physical exercise as well as musical related activities. Although such therapies demonstrate potential, they also have limitations that may affect their use, calling for further exploration. Here, we propose dance as a potential parallel to physical and music therapies. Dance may be able to aid with both physical and cognitive impairments, particularly due to it combined nature of including both physical and cognitive stimulation. Not only does it incorporate physical and motor skill related activities, but it can also engage various cognitive functions such as perception, emotion, and memory, all while done in an enriched environment. Other more practical benefits, such as promoting adherence due to being enjoyable, are also discussed, along with the current literature on the application of dance as an intervention tool, as well as future directions required to evaluate the potential of dance as an alternative therapy in neurorehabilitation.