The Neuroscience of Dance and the Dance of Neuroscience: Defining a Path of Inquiry

by J. Alexander Dale, Janyce Hyatt, and Jeff Hollerman


Introduction

The neural processes of a person comprehending or creating music have intrigued neuroscientists and prompted them to examine the processing of information and emotion with some of the most recent and sophisticated techniques in the brain sciences (see, for example, Zatorre and his colleagues' work). These techniques and the excitement of studying matters that seemed so elusive have been successfully extended to the visual arts to some degree (for example, see Zeki and Solso). For the most part, these efforts have focused on the perspective of the audience (listener/viewer), with a similar focus in the limited writing on dance. This article is an attempt to define an area of inquiry for the neuroscience of dance that focuses first on the dancer rather than the audience. Practically, this approach is easier for dance than music or visual art because of the immediacy of dance creation. In addition, from our perspective on dance, the experience of the dancer is central. In fact, it defines dance itself. The latter statement may not be apparent if the term "dance" brings to mind a specific type of stylized or formalized dance; thus, it is important to clearly define what we are considering as we try to identify a neuroscience and dance path in a nearly uncharted wilderness. Our collaborative effort grew out of a curricular endeavor to link neuroscience with the humanities, including a Neuroscience of Dance course.