Enhancement of Pleasure during Spontaneous Dance.

Nicolò F Bernardi,Antoine Bellemare-Pepin,Isabelle Peretz

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00572

Abstract

Dancing emphasizes the motor expression of emotional experiences. The bodily expression of emotions can modulate the subjective experience of emotions, as when adopting emotion-specific postures and faces. Thus, dancing potentially offers a ground for emotional coping through emotional enhancement and regulation. Here we investigated the emotional responses to music in individuals without any prior dance training while they either freely danced or refrained from movement. Participants were also tested while imitating their own dance movements but in the absence of music as a control condition. Emotional ratings and cardio-respiratory measures were collected following each condition. Dance movements were recorded using motion capture. We found that emotional valence was increased specifically during spontaneous dance of groovy excerpts, compared to both still listening and motor imitation. Furthermore, parasympathetic-related heart rate variability (HRV) increased during dance compared to motor imitation. Nevertheless, subjective and physiological arousal increased during movement production, regardless of whether participants were dancing or imitating. Significant correlations were found between inter-individual differences in the emotions experienced during dance and whole-body acceleration profiles. The combination of movement and music during dance results in a distinct state characterized by acutely heightened pleasure, which is of potential interest for the use of dance in therapeutic settings.

Highlights

Movements are intimately linked to emotional experiences (Figure 1, green arrow)
When dancing to groovy music, emotional valence was higher during dance compared to all the other conditions (main effect of Music: F(1,38) = 3.9, p = 0.053, n.s.; main effect of Movement: F(1,38) = 28.5, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.43, power = 0.99; Music by Movement interaction: F(1,38) = 10.9, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.22, power = 0.97)
Post hoc comparisons showed that when groovy music was present, participants experienced a higher degree of pleasure if they were engaging in movement, compared to listening still (p < 0.001; p-values for post hoc tests are corrected for multiple comparisons)

Summary

Introduction

Movements are intimately linked to emotional experiences (Figure 1, green arrow). Movement is the vehicle to express emotions to others, by means of facial, vocal and limb displays. We investigate whether the presence of movement while listening to music may modulate the emotional response to music (Figure 1, red arrow). Music is widely regarded for its capacity to elicit emotions (Figure 1, cyan arrow). Emotion elicitation happens as a result of the appraisal of the music novelty and intrinsic pleasantness (Scherer, 2005), association with autobiographical memories (Jäncke, 2008) and empathy for the person, real or imagined, who is expressing through the music (Vines et al, 2011; Miu and Baltes,, 2012; for a review, see Scherer and Coutinho, 2013). The relationship between music and emotions is bidirectional: being in a specific emotional state has been shown to lead individuals to seek out particular types of music, suggesting a use of music for emotional self-regulation (Saarikallio, 2011; Thoma et al, 2012)

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Conclusion