Functional MRI dataset for evaluating brain synchrony among dance spectators

# README

Participants in this fMRI study viewed a recorded version of the choreography “Group Study” by Matthias Sperling. This work was developed in the context of research on the perception of movement synchrony in dance.

In “Group Study” 10 professional dancers perform a task-based choreography that consist of mainly pedestrian movements such as walking, running and arm swinging. Over the course of the performance, movement synchrony systematically varies among performers. The performance contains vocalizations and the sound of the performers moving, but no music. The video was filmed frontally in a single shot without editing and lasted 33 minutes and 54 seconds.

For detailed information on the performance and the choreographic score, see:
Vicary, S., Sperling, M., von Zimmermann, J., Richardson, D. C., & Orgs, G. (2017). Joint action aesthetics. PLOS ONE, 12(7), e0180101. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180101

Scanning took place at the Combined Universities Brain Imaging Centre (CUBIC; www.cubic.rhul.ac.uk). Sessions comprised a single functional scan during which participants passively observed the movie recording (680 volumes, TR=3s). A single T1w structural scan was also acquired.

26 participants took part in this fMRI study, comprising the choreographer, 14 dancers and 11 novices who had no formal dance training.