ArticleFrontiers in human neuroscience2020
Dance on the Brain: Enhancing Intra- and Inter-Brain Synchrony.
Article in Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of visual art therapy on cognitive function in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Healing potential of art therapy: a narrative review of neuro-psycho-cultural mechanisms in mental health.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of dance therapy on cognitive and mental health in adults aged 55 years and older with mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2023Pooled it
- Brain Activity of Professional Dancers During Audiovisual Stimuli Exposure: A Systematic Review.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Pooled it
- Can dyadic rope-skipping enhance cooperative behavior in female university students with depressive symptoms? Evidence from behavioral and fNIRS hyperscanning data.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Neurologic dance training and home exercise improve motor-cognitive dual-task function similarly, but through potentially different mechanisms, among breast cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced neuropathy: Initial results of a randomized, controlled clinical trial.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2025Trial
- The Effect of Two Somatic-Based Practices Dance and Martial Arts on Irisin, BDNF Levels and Cognitive and Physical Fitness in Older Adults: A Randomized Control Trial.Clinical interventions in aging · 2024Trial
- AllPlay Dance autism: protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a community-based dance programme for children with autism.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Music and Exercise in Concert: Uncovering Synergistic Mechanisms for Enhancing Brain Health and Cognitive Resilience-A Narrative Review.Brain and behavior · 2026Review
- Effect of tango versus exercise on chemotherapy-induced neuropathy after breast cancer treatment: a Phase II randomized controlled trial.Research square · 2026Article
- Psychophysiological effects of dance/movement therapy on anxiety reduction in adolescents in juvenile detention centers: dopamine and thermoregulatory responses in a controlled study.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2026Article
- IGROOVE: Protocol for a randomized, controlled, single-blind trial of dance intervention in older adults with subjective cognitive decline.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2026Article
- Shaping inter-brain plasticity: A feasibility study of enhancing inter-brain synchrony with dyadic neurofeedback.iScience · 2026Article
- Parental leadership in motion: neural and behavioral mechanisms of synchrony during parent-child interaction.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2026Article
- Theta oscillations are associated with movement during choreographed and improvised dance - a case series with Memphis Jookin': The Show.Research square · 2026Article
- Mood changes of children and adolescents in dance classes: a prospective repeated-measures study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- A study on the structural relationship among dance training experience, motor imagery, cognitive flexibility, and emotion regulation strategies in young adults.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Quality over quantity: joint group dance strengthens schoolchildren's social connections and wellbeing.Frontiers in cognition · 2026Article
- Relationships among children's muscular strength, neuromuscular control, and resilience.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Dancing through time: Cognitive changes over six years of community dance in Parkinson's disease.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dance has traditionally been viewed from a Eurocentric perspective as a mode of self-expression that involves the human body moving through space, performed for the purposes of art, and viewed by an audience. In this Hypothesis and Theory article, we synthesize findings from anthropology, sociology, psychology, dance pedagogy, and neuroscience to propose The Synchronicity Hypothesis of Dance, which states that humans dance to enhance both intra- and inter-brain synchrony. We outline a neurocentric definition of dance, which suggests that dance involves neurobehavioral processes in seven distinct areas including sensory, motor, cognitive, social, emotional, rhythmic, and creative. We explore The Synchronicity Hypothesis of Dance through several avenues. First, we examine evolutionary theories of dance, which suggest that dance drives interpersonal coordination. Second, we examine fundamental movement patterns, which emerge throughout development and are omnipresent across cultures of the world. Third, we examine how each of the seven neurobehaviors increases intra- and inter-brain synchrony. Fourth, we examine the neuroimaging literature on dance to identify the brain regions most involved in and affected by dance. The findings presented here support our hypothesis that we engage in dance for the purpose of intrinsic reward, which as a result of dance-induced increases in neural synchrony, leads to enhanced interpersonal coordination. This hypothesis suggests that dance may be helpful to repattern oscillatory activity, leading to clinical improvements in autism spectrum disorder and other disorders with oscillatory activity impairments. Finally, we offer suggestions for future directions and discuss the idea that our consciousness can be redefined not just as an individual process but as a shared experience that we can positively influence by dancing together.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.