Time: March 26, 2014, 8:00pm
Location: Cantina Royal, 58 N 3rd St, Brooklyn (Williamsburg, near the Bedford Avenue L Station), NY 11211
Audience: Adults
Registration: Free, Suggested $5 donation at the door
Information: What happens in the brain of tango dancers as they glide and swirl? Tango is synchronization, two bodies connected through the embrace, moving as one. But are dancers’ brainwaves synchronized too? On March 26th, neuroscientist Suzanne Dikker will allow us to peer into tango dancers’ minds in a live experiment showing their brain activity in real time. Three couples will be fitted with wireless headsets that will sense their brain waves and transmit them to a computer as they dance. Brain wave synchronization—or lack thereof—in each couple will be translated into dynamic visualizations projected on the walls.
I would have loved to have been present! However, I believe that any two people working on the same project in tandem may show interesting synchronization. More important than synchronization is two disparate experiences in a couple: One individual may be processing and resolving a recent or even childhood trauma while the other is just having a very pleasurable experience. Both are possible simultaneously and not at all “synchronized” cognitions. The three “M’s” of tango: Music, Movement and eMbrace create a wide range of experiences that are truly profound–at least, that is my observation and experience.
Please find some results about this here: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0012166
Knowing the Emotive helmet, there is lot of chance those tango dancers have spurious synchronization at the EEG level. With movement, most of the similar patterns in the two dancers are caused by muscles (EMG) and eye blinks (EOG). But anyway, the idea is really neat😉