Two to tango: Study shows dancers' brains sync up as they move together

I'm reminded that correlation does not imply causation.

We've seen that effect when practicing lead/follow without contact. Sometimes referred to as 'telepathy' - or just 'leaders' are predictable! There are many cues to a leader's intention.

But is it surprising (despite the description of how these signals are conveyed)?

When a leader, for example, took a step forward and the follower took an immediate (within 200 milliseconds or less) step back, their brain waves tended to match up—rising and falling at about the same time.

Well, yes, I'd expect the follower to respond to a lead.

When their steps weren't in sync, neither were their brains.

Well, yes, if lead was poor, or follower didn't respond to lead, then you wouldn't expect related activity. You could just say actions require brain activity, which will be synchronised to the action.

No sh*t, Sherlock:rolleyes:
 
Here's the actual paper if anyone's interested since the second hand reporters are not doing a good job.


It's probable that what they really hoped to show was brain sync in improvised movements, but they couldn't isolate it with their experimental setup - filtering the noise from a minimal version where the dancers could only do forward or back steps was easier
 
Rabbit said:
It's probable that what they really hoped to show was brain sync in improvised movements
Click to expand...
But isn't that just self-evident? If you're doing something synchronised, then you'd expect synchronised brain activity. Might have been interesting if multiplexing could have been isolated and shown. And different if the lead is leading a step where the follower does something different - even a molinete.

Even more complex in a team sport!
 
Rabbit said:
As I said, that's probably what they wanted to demonstrate but weren't able to, so they published what they had
Click to expand...
But, in some respects, self-evident. Like 2 people alternating with sledgehammers to smash a boulder. Without some interpretation of WTF did the lead expect me to do there? when it doesn't work, it's hardly worth the effort:cool:
 
Brummbaer said:
But isn't that just self-evident? If you're doing something synchronised, then you'd expect synchronised brain activity. Might have been interesting if multiplexing could have been isolated and shown. And different if the lead is leading a step where the follower does something different - even a molinete.

Even more complex in a team sport!
Click to expand...
I would also like to see how this works in group dances like Casino rueda where the interactions are not just one to one but many people doing the same moves based on a lead’s calls.
 
brujo said:
I would also like to see how this works in group dances like Casino rueda where the interactions are not just one to one but many people doing the same moves based on a lead’s calls.
Click to expand...
You'd see brain activity in response (i.e. synchronised) to the lead's calls - and some would mishear, or interpret incorrectly. But you'd have to decode that response for it to be meaningful - otherwise it's just a synchronised spike. If you're syncing with others then you'd expect multiple 'spikes' but in the same time frame, which you'd have to cross-reference to other activities around.

Compare some recent images/videos of androids doing gymnastics/dance in groups.

Nothing clever: you get stimuli and a resulting programmed response.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Dance Ads

Advertise on Dance Forums Reach dancers, teachers, studios, event organizers, and dance-friendly brands. View ad options
Back
Top