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Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. ISSN 0077-8923
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Issue: The Neurosciences and Music V
Dance and the brain: a review
Falisha J. Karpati,1,2 Chiara Giacosa,1, 3 Nicholas E.V. Foster,1,4 Virginia B. Penhune,1, 3
and Krista L. Hyde1,2, 4
1International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 2Faculty of Medicine, McGill
University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 3Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
4Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Address for correspondence: Falisha J. Karpati, BRAMS, Pavillon 1420 Mont Royal, FAS, D ´
epartement de psychologie, CP
6128, Succ. Centre Ville, Montr´
eal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada. falisha.karpati@mail.mcgill.ca
Dance is a universal form of human expression that offers a rich source for scientific study. Dance provides a unique
opportunity to investigate brain plasticity and its interaction with behavior. Several studies have investigated the
behavioral correlates of dance, but less is known about the brain basis of dance. Studies on dance observation suggest
that long- and short-term dance training affect brain activity in the action observation and simulation networks.
Despite methodological challenges, the feasibility of conducting neuroimaging while dancing has been demonstrated,
and several brain regions have been implicated in dance execution.Preliminar y work fromour labor atory suggests that
long-term dance training changes both gray and white matter structure. This article provides a critical summary of
work investigating the neural correlates of dance. It covers functional neuroimaging studies of dance observation and
performance as well as structural neuroimaging studies of expert dancers. To stimulate ongoing dialogue between
dance and science, future directions in dance and brain research as well as implications are discussed. Research
on the neuroscience of dance will lead to a better understanding of brain–behavior relationships and brain plasticity
in experts and nonexperts and can be applied to the development of dance-based therapy programs.
Keywords: dance; brain plasticity; action observation; neuroimaging
Introduction
Dance can be defined as the movement of one or
more bodies in a choreographed or improvised
manner with or without accompanying sound.1
Dance is universal across human cultures and may
have emerged as early as 1.8 million years ago.2,3
Throughout history, dance has played a pivotal role
in cultural4and social practices5and has also devel-
oped into a form of art and entertainment. Dance
provides a unique model to investigate how the brain
integrates movement and sound as well as the devel-
opment of motor expertise combined with artistic
creativity and performance. Dance involves long-
term and intensive practice of sensorimotor skills,
and the type and duration of training can be quanti-
fied. As such, studying dance offers a unique window
to study human brain plasticity and the interaction
between the brain and behavior.
Although several studies have examined the
behavioral basis of dance,1,6 fewer studies have
investigated the brain basis of dance.1,7 This article
provides an up-to-date and succinct review of
empirical studies on the neuroscience of dance.
This review does not aim to cover all studies on
dance but rather to provide a focused review of
studies on the functional and structural brain
correlates of dance. More specifically, we first
review the role of the action observation network in
dance. Next, we review studies that have examined
the functional brain networks involved in dance
performance. Finally, we review studies on the
structural brain correlates of dance training, in-
cluding some preliminary data from our lab on this
topic. We conclude with some future directions and
implications of work on the neuroscience of dance.
The neural correlates of action
observation in dance
Dancers often learn choreography by watching oth-
ers perform and by observing their own actions in
doi: 10.1111/nyas.12632
140 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1337 (2015) 140–146 C⃝2014 New York Academy of Sciences.
Karpati et al.Dance and the brain: a review
order to perfect the movements. Accordingly, re-
search on dance observation has been influenced by
studies of the “mirror neuron system” (or action
observation network) in primates and humans and,
in particular, by the idea that this network supports
the observation and simulation of others’ actions.8
The human action observation network is thought
to involve premotor and parietal cortices,9which
may be involved in action simulation along with
the supplementary motor area, superior temporal
sulcus, and primary motor cortex.10
Investigating the brain activity of dancers while
they observe dance performance can provide in-
sight into how dance training may affect the action
observation and simulation networks. To this aim,
researchers have used functional neuroimaging
techniques, including both functional magnetic res-
onance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalog-
raphy (EEG) methods. Whereas fMRI offers
fine spatial resolution, EEG offers fine temporal
resolution.11
In a key fMRI study of dance observation, Cross
et al. examined training-induced brain activity
in expert dancers while they simultaneously ob-
served and imagined performing either familiar or
novel movement sequences.10 Brain activity asso-
ciated with observing and imagining movements
was found in the action observation and simu-
lation networks (e.g., premotor cortex and infe-
rior parietal lobule) and was related to how much
experience participants had with the dance steps
and how highly they rated their ability to per-
form them. In a subsequent fMRI study, Cross and
colleagues scanned nondancers before and after 5
days of training in which they had to observe and
perform a dance video game.12 Training-induced
brain activity was found in the action observation
and simulation networks, including the premotor
cortex and inferior parietal lobule. In two other
fMRI studies of dance observation, Calvo-Merino
et al. found increased activity, particularly in pre-
motor cortex, when expert dancers observed move-
ments from familiar (versus novel) dance styles and
when dancers had physical experience performing
the movements compared to having only observed
them.13,14 In a later fMRI study, Pilgramm et al.
found that ballroom dancers had greater activa-
tion in the premotor cortex than did nondancers
while observing ballroom dance videos.15 Ta k e n
together, these fMRI studies point to the critical
role and plasticity of the premotor cortex in dance
observation.
In terms of EEG studies of dance observation,
Orgs et al. measured event-related desynchroniza-
tion in a sample of expert dancers and non-
dancers while they watched dance and nondance
movements.16 Event-related desynchronization was
measured as a change in power of !and "frequency
bands16 and is thought to represent inhibition of
sensorimotor cortex activity by the action obser-
vation system.17 Dancers showed a larger event-
related desynchronization while watching dance
movements, indicating greater activation in the ac-
tion observation system. Most recently, Amoruso
et al. used EEG to measure event-related potentials
in a sample of expert tango dancers, beginner tango
dancers, and nondancers as they watched videos of
correctly or incorrectly executed tango steps.18 An-
ticipatory activity generated by frontal, parietal, and
occipital brain regions showed differences between
groups and also predicted later activity in motor and
temporal regions. The above EEG studies add to the
fMRI evidence of functional brain differences of the
action observation network in dancers, particularly
in terms of temporal brain dynamics in motor and
temporal regions.
One limitation of the above studies on dance ob-
servation is the lack of ecological validity of the
dance stimuli used. Dance stimuli typically consist
of simple/short segments of recorded movements
devoid of any real-life social context. In order to ex-
amine whether the co-presence of the actor and the
spectator has an impact on motor resonance, Jola
et al.19,20 conducted a series of studies on dance
observation in the context of live dance per-
formance. For example, Jola and Grosbras used
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to mea-
sure corticospinal excitability by means of motor-
evoked potentials in spectators when watching live
versus taped dance performances.19 Participants
showed enhanced motor corticospinal excitability
when watching live compared to video-recorded
dance. In a related study, Jola et al. tested the
impact of visual experience on motor simulation
by measuring motor-evoked potentials in experi-
enced spectators and novices as they watched live
dance performances.20 They found enhanced corti-
cospinal excitability in visually experienced versus
novice dance spectators. Taken together, Jola et al.’s
findings suggest that corticospinal excitability in
141
Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1337 (2015) 140–146 C⃝2014 New York Academy of Sciences.
Dance and the brain: a review Karpati et al.
response to observing dance is affected by whether
the performance is live or recorded and also by the
participants’ visual experience.
Although ecologically valid, live dance perfor-
mance cannot be strictly controlled to ensure that
each participant views an identical performance. As
a solution to this problem, Jola et al. conducted an
fMRI study in novice dance spectators in which they
used intersubject correlation to investigate which
brain areas are synchronized across participants for
uni- and multisensory versions of unfamiliar dance
recordings.21 Activit y in the superior tempor al gyrus
was significantly correlated between subjects for au-
diovisual integration, but no regions showed signifi-
cant correlations for higher level cognitive processes.
In sum, neuroimaging studies of action ob-
servation in dance have shown that (1) dancers
show activation of the action observation and
simulation networks, particularly the premotor
cortex, when observing dance, likely because they
have an enhanced motor representation of an
observed movement; (2) functional differences in
the action observation system of dancers are related
to the degree of dance training; (3) short-term
dance training is correlated with brain functional
plasticity in nondancers; and (4) observation of
recorded versus live dance performance results in
differential brain activity. However, the studies
reviewed in this section are limited by the fact that
they only address observation of dance. A critical
question in the field of neuroscience of dance is
what the brain is doing when one is actually dancing.
Functional brain correlates of dance
performance
Few studies have examined the functional brain cor-
relates of an actual dance performance given the po-
tential motion artifacts involved in measuring the
body in motion in neuroimaging paradigms. How-
ever, some researchers have overcome this challenge
by creating experimental paradigms that allow the
study of some aspects of dance performance. For
example, Brown et al. designed an apparatus al-
lowing amateur tango dancers to perform tango
steps (involving leg movements only) while in a
positron emission tomography (PET) scanner.22 Re-
sults showed that the cerebellum was activated in the
entrainment of dance steps to music, the putamen
was involved in metric motion, and the superior
parietal lobule was implicated in spatial guidance of
leg movements. Although the Brown et al. study22
demonstrated that PET can be used to study some
aspects of dance performance, these results may not
be generalizable to more complex motor tasks or to
real dancing, which involves the whole body in a
variety of positions.
In order to measure whole-body dance move-
ment, Tachibana et al. used functional near-infrared
spectroscopy (fNIRS) to study brain activity in non-
dancers while they performed a dance video game.23
Just as fMRI does, fNIRS measures brain activity in
terms of oxyhemoglobin dynamics but has a higher
temporal resolution and less motion sensitivity.24
Task-related brain activation was found in the su-
perior temporal gyrus and superior parietal lobule
and increased as a function of task difficulty. In a
subsequent fNIRS study using the same video game
paradigm, Ono et al. showed that frontotemporal
oxyhemoglobin dynamics predicts performance ac-
curacy of dance simulation gameplay.25
In addition to PET and fNIRS, EEG has also
been used to study dance performance. Cruz-Garza
et al. used EEG to study brain activity in dancers who
performed movements in three conditions: (1) non-
expressive movements while thinking nonexpres-
sive thoughts; (2) nonexpressive movements while
thinking of an expressive quality; and (3) expressive
movements.26 EEG was used as an input to a ma-
chine learning algorithm that classified movements
based on the thought or performed expression. Ac-
tivation was found in premotor, motor, and parietal
regions, and the classification was not limited by
motion artifacts. This study demonstrates the fea-
sibility of using EEG to investigate the expressive
nature of movement in dance.
In sum, the above studies suggest that it is pos-
sible to use certain neuroimaging techniques, such
as PET, fNIRS, and EEG, to study the functional
neural correlates of actual dance performance.
Findings from these studies point to a network of
brain regions implicated in various aspects of dance
performance, in particular the superior temporal
gyrus, superior parietal lobule, frontopolar cortex,
and middle temporal gyrus.
Future brain imaging studies on dance perfor-
mance should continue to find methodological
solutions to enhance the ability to measure more
ecologically valid dance performance. One possible
avenue for this would be the combination of
motion capture technology and fNIRS or EEG
142 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1337 (2015) 140–146 C⃝2014 New York Academy of Sciences.
Karpati et al.Dance and the brain: a review
during the execution of a dance video game or
dance performance. Moreover, the work described
thus far has focused on brain functional measures,
but study of both brain function and structure
is required in order to have a more complete
understanding of the neural correlates of dance.
Brain structural correlates
of dance training
Few studies have examined the structural neural cor-
relates of dance. H¨
anggi et al. were the first to use
structural MRI to measure gray and white matter
structural differences in professional ballet dancers
versus nondancer controls.27 Dancers showed re-
duced gray and white matter volumes compared to
nondancers in several regions, including the premo-
tor cortex, supplementary motor area, putamen, in-
ternal capsule, and corpus callosum. Although this
study provided the first evidence of brain struc-
tural differences between dancers and nondancers,
an absence of any behavioral measure precluded the
investigation of any brain–behavioral correlations.
A subsequent study by Nigmatullina et al. used
MRI to study the structural brain correlates in
dancers versus rowers (who had no dance experi-
ence) in relation to a task of vestibular function (in
which participants turned a wheel to match the rota-
tion they were experiencing as their chair turned).28
Structural brain differences were found between
groups, particularly in the posterior cerebellum, and
were correlated with performance on the vestibu-
lar task as well as the amount of dance training
in dancers. However, although this work corre-
lated brain structure with behavior, the vestibu-
lar task used does not measure whole-body dance
performance.
In order to investigate the brain structural cor-
relates of dance in relation to actual dance perfor-
mance, our laboratory recently used MRI to perform
detailed gray- and white-matter analysis in expert
dancers versus nondancer controls.29,30 In addition,
participants were tested on their ability to imitate
whole-body movements with a dance video game.
Preliminary results from cortical thickness analyses
showed that dancers have thicker gray matter than
controls in the superior and middle temporal gyri
and precentral gyrus.29 Preliminary results from dif-
fusion tensor imaging (DTI) analyses showed that
dancers have greater white-matter diffusivity in the
corpus callosum, corticospinal tract, and superior
longitudinal fasciculus.30 Most importantly, dance
video game performance was correlated with gray-
matter thickness in the superior temporal gyrus as
well as white-matter diffusivity in the corpus callo-
sum, signaling the importance of these regions in
dance performance.
Overall, the above studies suggest that long-term
dance training is associated with brain plasticity
in both gray- and white-matter regions associated
with motor and auditory functions. In the future,
longitudinal studies in dancers as well as short-
term training studies in nondancers will allow us to
distinguish between brain changes associated with
training and possible preexisting differences inbrain
structure that may have predisposed certain individ-
uals to pursue training.
In the final section we present new questions for
future directions as well as the main implications of
research on dance and the brain.
Future directions in dance
and brain research
Specificity of dance training
As reviewed above, dance involves both athletic and
artistic training and thus is distinct from other ath-
lete groups. To date only two studies have compared
the brain characteristics of dancers and athletes,28,31
and no study has yet examined dance relative to
another art form, for example, music performance.
Similar to dance, musical training entails intensive
practice of sensorimotor skills, and the type and
duration of training can be quantified. Musicians
and nonmusicians differ in terms of brain struc-
ture, function, and behavioral performance,32 but
no studies have yet examined the specificity of mu-
sic versus dance training on the brain or behavior.
Such studies are key to understanding what brain
correlates or behaviors might be the same or dif-
ferent across types of training. To this aim, our
laboratory recently compared brain structure and
behavioral performance on a battery of auditory-
motor tasks in dancers versus musicians.29,30 Pre-
liminary results revealed behavioral differences
between groups, where dancers performed best on
dance-related tasks and musicians performed best
on music-related tasks. In addition, we found struc-
tural brain differences, particularly in terms of white
matter, between dancers and musicians in several re-
gions, including the corpus callosum, corticospinal
tract, and superior longitudinal fasciculus.30 These
143
Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1337 (2015) 140–146 C⃝2014 New York Academy of Sciences.
Dance and the brain: a review Karpati et al.
results promise to shed light on the specificity of
dance versus music training on both the brain and
behavior.
Is there a sensitive period for dance?
A sensitive period can be defined as a time dur-
ing development in which the brain is most
influenced by a specific type of experience.33 The ex-
istence of a sensitive period has been demonstrated
for various skills, such as language,34 athletics,35 and
music.36 For example, adult musicians who began
training before age 7 years show behavioral37 and
structural brain differences compared to musicians
who began training later and that could not be ex-
plained by differences in years of training.38 Similar
to music, formal dance training is a structured and
intensive auditory-motor activity typically begun in
young childhood. From this perspective, it is likely
that a sensitive period would also exist for learn-
ing to dance, just as it does for music or language
learning. However, no study has yet examined this
important question. Our laboratory is currently in-
vestigating whether such a sensitive period may exist
in dance learning in a large sample of dancers.
Dance-based interventions
Dance training and dance-movement therapy39
have been found to correlate with positive behav-
ioral effects in a variety of populations, including
individuals with Parkinson’s disease,40–45 autism,46
and various psychiatric conditions.47,48 For exam-
ple, Duncan and Earhart found improvements in
symptom severity in individuals with Parkinson’s
disease following a tango dance intervention pro-
gram that was not observed in a control group (who
did not receive any intervention).42 However, few
studies have examined the brain functional corre-
lates of dance interventions,49,50 and no studies have
investigated the brain structural correlates of dance-
based therapies. Future studies on the brain and
behavioral correlates of dance interventions are re-
quired in order to further understand and validate
the true promise of dance therapy.
Conclusion
The main goal of this paper was to provide a fo-
cused review of research conducted to date in the
field of dance and the brain. To this aim, studies
were presented on the topics of action observation in
dance, the functional neural correlates of dance per-
formance, and structural brain plasticity associated
with dance training. We suggest several future di-
rections, including investigation of the specificity
of dance training on brain structure and function,
testing the existence of a sensitive period in the con-
text of dance, as well as obtaining neuroimaging
support for dance-based interventions. Dance and
brain research holds great promise to provide a bet-
ter understanding of expert and nonexpert auditory
and motor brain–behavioral development and brain
plasticity and can inform the development of dance-
based therapy programs. Studying the neuroscience
of dance will support a growing multidisciplinary
field providing insight into the interactions between
arts and the brain.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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