An October 2, 2024 University of Helsinki press release (also on EurekAlert but published October 15, 2024) describes research exploring the differences in brain activity between audience members with extensive dance or music experience and audiences with little of experience of either,
University of Helsinki researchers measured the brain activity of people watching a live dance performance in a real-world setting. They invited spectators with extensive experience of either dance or music as well as novices with no particular background in either of these areas.
The spectators’ brain activity was measured using EEG while they watched the live dance duet Un último recuerdo, a piece created by the Spanish Iron Skulls Co that combines contemporary dance and breakdance.
Experienced dancers respond more strongly than novices
The results showed that dance experience is detectable in spectators’ brain activity during a dance performance. The experienced dancers watching the performance displayed stronger synchronisation than the novices at the low theta frequency.
Experience of dance affects brain functions associated with the visualisation of movement in the mind, the simultaneous integration of several sensory stimuli (listening to music and watching dance) and social interaction.
When musicians watched the live dance performance, they had stronger synchrony in the delta band, which is even lower than theta. This may be associated with the musicians’ trained ability to observe rhythmic bodily movements.
Watching dance in a real-world environment is unique for our brain
The effect of watching a dance performance on brain activity has previously been studied by having subjects watch a video recording on their own in a brain research laboratory.
The present study was conducted in a real-world performance environment and shows that watching a live dance performance in a full venue activates the brain more extensively than the above setting.
“As our interaction increasingly moves to online platforms and the virtual world, it’s important to know that real-world interaction is unique – for our body and brain,” says Hanna Poikonen, the lead author of the study.
The results also emphasise the effect of a background in creative movement on the spectator experience.
“If we have practised our bodily skills, we may better understand the body language of others, which makes social interaction smoother,” Poikonen notes.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
Cortical oscillations are modified by expertise in dance and music: Evidence from live dance audience by Hanna Poikonen, Mari Tervaniemi, Laurel Trainor. European Journal of Neuroscience (EJN) Volume 60, Issue 8 October 2024 Pages 6000-6014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.16525 First published online: 15 September 2024
This paper is open access.
Way back in time (see my March 6, 2012 posting), I featured some research into how experienced ballet watchers (not dancers or musicians) experienced a ballet performance.
Not quite so far back in time, I mentioned Laurel Trainor (third author listed on the paper) in a November 29, 2019 posting that featured (amongst other items) the Large Interactive Virtual Environment Laboratory (LIVELab) located in McMaster University’s (Ontario, Canada) Institute for Music & the Mind (MIMM).