CURRICULAR BRIDGES BETWEEN NEUROSCIENCE AND THE HUMANITIES: NEUROSCIENCE OF DANCE AND MOVEMENT COURS

1
CURRICULAR BRIDGES BETWEEN NEUROSCIENCE AND THE
HUMANITIES NEUROSCIENCE OF DANCE AND MOVEMENT
COURSE J.R. Hollerman, J. Hyatt J.A.
Dale Psychology Department and Dance
Studies Allegheny College, Meadville PA16335, USA

Observations
Static Dances in the Lab The Hanging Dance
The Dance of Neuroscience
The Tree Dance
Abstract

This course for undergraduates was developed as
part of a series of courses linking Neuroscience
with the Humanities in the interests of
increasing the exchange between Neuroscience and
Humanities students and faculty. This particular
course focused on the experience of dance,
primarily by the dancer rather than an observer
and the potential neuroscientific basis thereof.
A mix of students with previous exposure to
Dance, Neuroscience, or neither discipline was
recruited for the course. Because this is a
largely unexplored area, much of the course was
devoted to a collaborative effort among students
and faculty to define the central issues at
question for an informed investigation of the
Neuroscience of Dance. To allow this, basic
principles of neuroscience and modern dance were
presented by means of readings, presentations,
and activities. Activities included individual
creation of expressive dance, human modeling of
neural circuits, and group choreography.
Discussions lead to identification of topics for
investigation and some of the ways in which
questions of interest could be addressed
scientifically were addressed in labs. These labs
used electrophysiological techniques to look at
EMG and EEG activity in relation to movement and
dance activities. A bioradio telemetry system was
used to allow a greater freedom of movement for
the subjects of these labs. The hands-on aspect
of activities and labs, as well as the
collaborative nature of the investigation, were
clearly strengths in the course. In addition, a
consensus was reached that central to the topic
is the question of How does the brain know it is
dancing? and that a likely site for addressing
this question is at the interface between
movement and emotion. (This course was developed
with funding from the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute and the Keck Foundation.)
An ensemble piece constructed from individual
student pieces under the choreographic tutelage
of one of the students (Leah Konopka). Performers
(L to R) Bethany Sholtis, Patrick Sergeant,
Julie Skivers, Allyson Green, Carla Monzo, Jen
Tustin, Leah Konopka, Jeff Hollerman, Gabrielle
Gutierez

• To better understand this complex picture the pre
  post testing was subdivided with respect to
  questions relating to physiology,
  electrophysiology and dance (in percentages as
  the numbers of questions were not equivalent). It
  was interesting to note that with regard to the
  questions on physiology that the dance students
  marginally improved (36-38) but one of the
  neuroscience students actually performed worse on
  these questions at the end of the course than at
  the beginning of the course (83-58) bringing down
  the mean and adding to the variability.
  Additionally, the students with only a
  neuroscience background improved their knowledge
  of electrophysiology (34-54) but the dance
  students who were also psychology majors actually
  decreased slightly (56-52). With regard to the
  questions pertaining to dance, both the neuro
  group (27-47) and the group that was experienced
  in neither area showed improvement (22-27) and
  the dance group maintained improved their
  scores slightly (44-45). The small number of
  students in the class limit the interpretation of
  these results. However, in the first offering of
  this course, the most consistent gains were with
  regard to information in the area of dance, with
  highly variable outcomes regarding information in
  neuroscience. In preparation for a second
  offering this spring, we are modifying course
  content and activities, as well as assessment
  techniques to take advantage of apparent
  strengths and eliminate possible weaknesses in
  the first offering

Participants Watched a video and Showed Alpha
Desynchronization During Changes of Major
Dimensions of Dance
.
Knowledge improved


Class Syllabus
CONCLUSIONS
Dances Dance Exercises Dance Signals Spinal
Exploration Stretch Bend Twist Continue
Breathing Modeling of Neural Circuits Dance
Dynamics The Dance of Neuroscience
The success of a single offering of a course of
this type is very difficult to assess. The large
number of requests from students to enroll in the
upcoming offering could serve as one somewhat
quantitative indicator. Qualitatively, the
participating faculty have noted that dancers
from the class have returned to neuroscientific
principles covered in the class (such as neural
inhibition) in choreographing, dancing and
addressing dance topics. In parallel,
neuroscientists from the class have been observed
to increase their engagement in dance and
movement activities, and to expand their
application of neuroscientific principles beyond
the classroom. Both groups of students, and the
faculty as well, have also cited this course as a
source of personal and professional growth. All
these factors indicate that such a course can be
a useful and productive undertaking for
undergraduate students and faculty.