Q: How did your background in neuroscience and your passion for bhangra dance converge
to inspire the creation of the NeuroDance workshop?

 

A: During the pandemic, I found myself reflecting on the deep connection between the brain and body. I started to wonder about how movement isn't just an output of brain activity, but a form of expression and communication. My neuroscience research involves something called ethograms which are visual tools used to quantify animal behavior. These helped me think more systematically about movement, not just in animals, but in humans too. In parallel, I explored Labanotation, a system used in dance to symbolically represent movements. I began collaborating with a dance professor to create my own symbolic representation for bhangra, a traditional Punjabi dance. We annotated dance sequences visually, allowing even those unfamiliar with the dance to perform the steps accurately. From there we started to see more neuroscientists interested in the intersection with the arts. 

This convergence of disciplines led to NeuroDance, a workshop series that introduces kids to
neuroscience through movement. It's a way to demystify the brain while tapping into the joy and
cultural richness of dance.

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Q: How has your cultural background influenced your approach to both scientific research
and dance?

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A: My cultural background has shaped both what I study and how I think. In science, I'm writing a review on brain-body communication, and I've noticed how Western neuroscience historically
prioritizes top-down control where the brain is the command center and controls the body. But alternative traditions, like Ayurvedic or Chinese medicine, emphasize bidirectional communication between body and brain, where the body affects the brain. 

Visually, South Asian culture with its colors, textiles, and art has influenced how I communicate scientific ideas. I value visual storytelling in science, which helps make complex topics more
Accessible. In dance, Punjabi traditions have helped me stay connected to music, community, and culture. It's a living, breathing expression of heritage that's shaped how I approach collaboration and creativity in my academic life too.

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Q: In your workshop, you discussed how synchronized dancing can enhance social bonds.
How might this be applied in therapeutic settings to improve social cohesion?

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A: There's fascinating research showing that when people engage in synchronized movement, they report higher levels of trust and social bonding. One study had two groups: one danced in sync, the other didn't. The synchronized group felt significantly closer and more connected.

This opens doors for therapeutic applications.  For example, group dance sessions for individuals dealing with trauma or depression. Studies even show that synchronized movement can lead to decreased pain sensitivity. While more research is needed, the implications are exciting for mental health, social cohesion, and rehabilitation therapy.

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Q: How does engaging in dance influence emotional regulation and expression from a neuroscientific perspective?

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A: This is an emerging area, but we're starting to see that during dance, regions like the amygdala, which processes emotion, become more synchronized with motor control areas. This could support better sensorimotor coupling, which in turn may help regulate emotions.

We don't yet fully understand the mechanisms, but the early findings suggest that moving
rhythmically and expressively could help regulate internal emotional states in powerful ways.

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Q: You mentioned breaking down animal behavior into 'behavioral syllables.' How does this concept apply to understanding human dance movements?

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A: In both animals and humans, complex behaviors are built from smaller, core movement units. In neuroscience, we call these 'behavioral syllables.' In dance, it's the same; we learn fundamental steps, refine them, and then string them together into sequences. By mapping these core movements, especially in people with movement disorders like Parkinson's, we can better understand which actions need support or retraining. We've started drawing these sequences out using stick figures to visualize and study the building blocks of dance.

 

Q: Your research involves studying how rove beetles interact with other species. What insights have you gained about neural processing of social cues from these studies?

 

A: Rove beetles use a combination of smell, touch, and taste to navigate complex environments, especially when interacting with predators like ants. They have multiple motor programs to choose from: they can fight, flee, or release chemicals as defense.

By altering or removing one sensory cue at a time, we can study how decisions change, giving us a high-resolution view of how brains integrate sensory information. This is much easier to do in insects, where we can even record from individual neurons.

These findings help us understand the basic principles of decision-making which extend into more complex organisms like humans.