Loving and dancing is just synchronizing

Review written by Professor Patrick Ramon Stafin Coquerel.

What the relationships between empathy and more oxytocin with synchronic movements in humans?

Very attention for two hypothesis. First: The men that show movement in synchronic form are in better conditions for kinesthetic empathy. Second: Men with elevated level of empathy increase the synchronic ability for to dance after to receive oxytocin doses, the neuropeptide of the love.

This was elegantly showed in study below indicated and conduced in the University of Haifa, Israel, in collaborated with North American institutions, that would can have access authorized in the Periodics CAPES Portal (https://www.periodicos.capes.gov.br/).

Josef, L., Goldstein, P., Mayseless, N. et al. The oxytocinergic system mediates synchronized interpersonal movement during dance. Sci Rep 9, 1894 (2019). https://doi-org.ez18.periodicos.capes.gov.br/10.1038/s41598-018-37141-1

This work was published in the Scientific Reports, a very important scientific magazine and with high level of qualifying in Qualis Platform in the Brazil, Qualis A1 or A2 in several areas of knowledge

(https://sucupira.capes.gov.br/sucupira/public/consultas/coleta/veiculoPublicacaoQualis/listaConsultaGeralPeriodicos.jsf).

Although the study was conducted only with men, due to the influence of female hormones inthe ecological context of dance, the results were significant regarding the influence ofaffective and emotional aspects on performance in the synchronization of movements and the reciprocity of this. In practical terms, it can be said that two people who synchronize body movements well in the same task are more likely to exhibit greater empathy. This is fundamental in the context of body mediation therapies and for psychomotor education throughout life. After all, the ability to put yourself in the other’s shoes can be inferred by the ability to communicate non-verbally, through synchronized movements. The study presents many references that reinforce this thesis, with observational researches with animals in natural environments that react in a team and in a synchronized way against stimuli of threat from predators, or even gestures between facial expressions of mothers caring for their children, from the most young age.

And that the use of an oxytocin supplementation made the pairs with a higher level of empathy exhibit even better motor synchronization. Included here are an intricate coexistence between behavior and its neurobiological basis. An oxytocin is selected without a mortgage, a neuroendocrine gland that produces several neuropeptides and that interacts with various functions of the body. In women, it stimulates uterine contraction and breastfeeding, for example. In humans, regardless of sex or gender, or neurotransmitter known as love, an oxytocin acts to strengthen the bonds of affection.

There are many details in the design of the experimental study, which uses inventories to check the level of empathy and other control variables of the study of 62 young, healthy adult men, who were randomly divided into 2 distinct groups, one of which doses of oxytocin and another, who received a placebo, or who underwent a double blind control, there is no synchronization evaluator who is unaware of who it was as people who received or did not receive supplemental doses of oxytocin. Despite the strict control and treatment of the data carried out in the study, publication was lacking as control measures over the participants' background in relation to previous experiences with coordinated rhythmic activities and their own level of psychomotor skills in the space-time organization of each student, or that may have an influence or result of the performance.

The article brought several contributions and enriched an undeniably scientific discussion on the topic. Interestingly, it was discovered that each of the 62 participants receives a financial compensation of ILS 100.00, which is the Israeli currency, the shekel. In the quotation of April 23, 2020, it was equivalent to approximately R $ 150.00. This leads us to think of an abysmal difference in investment in research between Brazil and the countries that involve studies, that is, Israel and the USA. Despite advanced terms in some research policies, as demonstrated by the very identity of a portal for CAPES journals and an online magazine classification platform, a Brazilian science used for greater investments.

It closes with some speculative questions that refer to the title of this review:
Can dancing synchronously educate us for love?
Can dancing with someone empathic be therapeutic?

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