There is interest in neuroscience in investigating the connection between the brain and movement, which is evident with studies with athletes. More recently, studies investigating this connection emerged in dance. Based on evolutionary psychology studies, dance highlights the connection of movement, art, mind, brain, and its functions. From this background, the authors seek to understand whether dance can influence the brain, its functions, and, ultimately, human development. With Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, they investigate dance context and skills developed by dancers. Resorting to research on the effects of dance on the brain, they noticed that dance impacts brain structure and functions and that it can aid human development.
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The present chapter assessed the relation between brain, mind, movement and dance. Some researchers have already highlighted the direct connection between movement and the development of the nervous system by considering this process for the evolution of consciousness (e.g. Rossano 2003; Damásio, 2010; Wolpert, 2011). In this matter, recent research in psychology has sought to study the effects of dance on human beings. Since this art form is a multisensory experience that uses complex movements, analysing its effects is an exciting way to understand the correlation between movement and cognition (Rehfeld et al., 2018; Teixeira-Machado, Arida & de Jesus Mari, 2018; Bläsing, Calvo-Merino, Cross, Jola, Honisch & Stevens, 2012; Karpati, Giacosa, Foster, Penhune & Hyde, 2015). Although there is interest in the matter, there is not much research on this. The few studies in the area indicate a correlation between dancing and different aspects of development.
However, the details of the effects of dance on development are still unclear. Dance represents a particular context, and it could influence development. This idea is supported by the ecological theory of Bronfenbrenner (1979). The author pointed out that the relationship between a person and the context will directly impact development. Thus, active participation in a dance context should have numerous effects on the individual. One of these effects will be the training of artistic and motor skills. Nevertheless, Greene and Sawilowsky (2018) argued that art would be influential not only in those aspects. The authors pointed out that art can also be influential on the global development of children, improving all sort of skills (e.g. language and communication, emotional and social development).
Another concept that may explain the effects of dance on development is brain plasticity: intrinsic property of change in the organisation of the brain (Pascual Leone, Amedi, Fregni & Merabet, 2005). The authors pointed out that the brain is an ever-changing system and that plasticity is a consequence of stimuli. In other words, the experience produces a reorganisation of the nervous system. This process occurs both at the structural and the functional level – that is, at cognition, which plays a fundamental role in acquiring new behavioural and mental patterns (Gurd, Kischka & Marshall, 2010).
On this subject, some studies indicate that dance promotes brain plasticity (e.g. Karpati et al., 2015; Karpati, Giacosa, Foster, Penhune & Hyde, 2017; Rehfeld et al., 2018; Teixeira-Machado, Arida & de Jesus Mari, 2018). In a literature review, Teixeira-Machado, Arida and de Jesus Mari (2018) suggested that dance induces expressive brain plasticity at a functional and a structural level. Rehfeld et al. (2018) also found effects of dance at the structural level of the brain, particularly a more significant increase in both white and grey matter in practitioners in addition to an increase in the corpus callosum, which is responsible for the connection and communication of the hemispheres. However, some studies have not shown the same encouraging results (Niemann, Godde & Voelcker-Rehage, 2016; Alpert et al., 2009). Alpert et al. (2009) conducted a study with a small sample of 13 subjects, while the study conducted by Niemann, Godde and Voelcker-Rehage (2016) compared similar samples: dancers and subjects who practised other physical activities. These methodological issues may explain these results.
It is necessary to emphasise that, despite the lack of conclusion, the interest in this matter is still very recent. There is still much to investigate. It is precisely to contribute to these investigations that this study was developed. In the first part of this chapter, dance, the evolution of art in humanity, and the brain will be discussed. Then, a narrative literature review will discuss studies on the effects of dance on human development and the effects on the brain, its structure and functions.