Definition
Humans possess an unparalleled ability to perform a seemingly endless variety of skilled actions. In dancers, this ability is even more pronounced, as their livelihood depends on rapid and precise reproduction of complex movements. Recent advances in neuroscience have enabled scientists to get a better look at how simple actions are coordinated in the brain. However, to better understand how more sophisticated, full-body movements are learned and reproduced, researchers are now turning to populations of expert and novice dancers to help illuminate how the brain learns to coordinate the body to perform complex and precise movements.
Theoretical Background
It has long been proposed that observing, imagining, or in any way representing an action engages similar neural processes as those used in execution of that same action (James 1890). A dominant theory to emerge from this early work by William James is...
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References
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Cross, E.S., Ramsey, R. (2012). Neurophysiological Correlates of Learning to Dance. In: Seel, N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_77
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_77
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