The Dancing Brain: Structural and Functional Signatures of Expert Dance Training
Agnieszka Z Burzynska1, Karolina Finc2, Brittany K Taylor1,3
1Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Neurosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|December 13, 2017
Summary
Long-term dance training enhances the brain's action observation network (AON) and motor learning networks in healthy young adults. While structural brain volume showed minimal changes, functional connectivity alterations were linked to dance skill and balance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Kinesiology
Background:
- Dance is a long-standing human activity used in ritual, therapy, and leisure.
- Dance interventions show promise for neurological disorders like dementia and Parkinson's disease.
- The impact of dance training on the healthy young brain remains under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the long-term effects of expert-level dance training on brain structure and function in young adults.
- To establish a baseline understanding of dance-induced neural plasticity in healthy individuals.
- To inform the design of clinical interventions using dance for neurological conditions.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of 20 young expert female dancers with 20 age- and education-matched non-dancers.
- Utilized diffusion tensor, morphometric, resting-state, and task-related functional MRI.
- Assessed cognitive abilities, dance skill (video game, balance task), brain structure, and functional connectivity.
Main Results:
- Dancers excelled in dance skill tasks but showed no cognitive differences.
- Minimal training-related differences in brain volume were observed.
- Dancers exhibited lower corticospinal tract anisotropy and greater activation of the action observation network (AON).
- Altered functional connectivity in the AON and motor learning networks was found in dancers, correlating with skill and balance.
Conclusions:
- Expert dance training induces significant functional brain changes, particularly in motor and observation networks, despite minimal structural volume alterations.
- These findings highlight dance-induced neural plasticity in healthy young brains.
- The study provides a foundation for monitoring dance training effects in clinical populations.
