Dance on cortex: enhanced theta synchrony in experts when watching a dance piece

When watching performing arts, a wide and complex network of brain processes emerge. These processes can be shaped by professional expertise. When compared to laymen, dancers have enhanced processes in observation of short dance movement and listening to music. But how do the cortical processes differ in musicians and dancers when watching an audio-visual dance performance? In our study, we presented the participants long excerpts from the contemporary dance choreography of Carmen. During multimodal movement of a dancer, theta phase synchrony over the fronto-central electrodes was stronger in dancers when compared to musicians and laymen. In addition, alpha synchrony was decreased in all groups during large rapid movement when compared to nearly motionless parts of the choreography. Our results suggest an enhanced cortical communication in dancers when watching dance and, further, that this enhancement is rather related to multimodal, cognitive and emotional processes than to simple observation of dance movement.