Amazingly, Your Brain Can Dance!

Has watching extremely fluid tango or hip-hop dancers intrigued you to the point that you anticipate dancers' next moves? Why do some dancers captivate while others bore you? The answer’s in your brain according to Ivar Hagendoorn, Dutch researcher and choreographer. Interestingly, your brain “dances” as you anticipate dancers’ or star athletes’ next moves. You make connections through motor imagery.

Hagendoorn describes motor imagery as “the kinesthetic feeling of movement without actually moving.” For instance, if you play golf, perhaps you visualize your swing, the clubface hitting the ball, and the ball rolling into the cup as you line up at the tee. Neuroscientist Marc Jeannerod’s findings show that motor imagery corresponds to covert activation of the motor system. The prefrontal cortex, which stores short term or working memory in your brain, is set in motion but the actual motor command is inhibited.

“Seeing a skill performed properly the first time has positive impact on fresh learning, the crisper the demonstration, the fresher the experience,” according to Bruce Weinke, divers' coach. Weinke suggests, “Drawing on feelings of harmony and flow provides durable reinforcement for kinesthetic memory through the imaging process.” Recent research in visual imaging shows that your brain’s motor and visual cortex are highly active when you are engaged in these lightning fast predictions.

How does your brain cope with lightning fast movement? Vision researcher, Romi Nijhawan explains that once a light particle hits the retina, in 50 to 100 milliseconds it is transformed into an electrical impulse as it reaches the visual cortex. Neuroscientists propose that the brain makes up for the delay by envisioning a moving object’s path. For instance, tennis pros read opponents’ movements to quickly position themselves to return a power serve.

You’d be surprised that visualizing movements can make you tired. Have you ever come home from a football game or a dance feeling exhausted? Rizzolatti’s research shows that observing movements activates the same muscle groups and motor circuits in the brain as if you executed the movements. Using the working memory is exhilarating since it takes energy and focus.

The aesthetic makes the difference between engagement and boredom when you’re watching a performance. For example, fluid dance movements and phrases, different and more exhilarating than your expectations, bring delight. On the other hand, when a dance is conventional and everything fits patterns you have experienced in past, you are soon bored. How might principles here apply to your work?

Has your brain danced lately? Brain Motor Imagery Visual Imagery Spatial Intelligence Hagendoorn