Measurement of brain activity in a professional dance environment - study

Abstract

The connection of body and mind and their mutual conjunction is an increasingly topical topic in many fields. Objective: The aim of the work was to find out to what extent our thoughts in a professional dance environment affect the course of brain frequencies and how they are prescribed in our organism and movement. Methods: As part of the study, brain activity was measured with the Muse wearable EEG device and visual analysis of movement from the dance environment, the plié element (flexion and extension of the knee joints). The monitored and measured individuals were sixteen students of the Dance Department of Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. We monitored brain frequencies in many phases (situations): without a specific thought (concentration) and without movement, with a specific thought without movement, movement without a specific thought, movement with a specific thought, and finally again a thought without movement, which was out of scope and research framework. Results: For fourteen participants in the experiment, we obtained an EEG signal of sufficient quality so that it could be further analyzed. A change in brain frequencies distinguishing activities with lower and higher conscious concentration was demonstrated in twelve participants. Conclusion: The output describes the findings regarding the connection of thoughts, body and movement based on measurable data. The Muse EEG device is useful for obtaining an EEG signal of sufficient quality in experiments requiring movement and taking place in real conditions. In the obtained EEG signal, it is possible to detect changes in the participant's brain activity during states of relaxed alertness and conscious concentration. Visual analysis of movement reflects that the synthesis of a specific thought and movement contributes to the elimination of bad habits, which destroy not only the technical purity of the performance of the  movement element, but also optimal posture, coordination of movement and individual anatomical structures.