[Paper Review] Emergent togetherness in collaborative dance improvisation: neural and motor synchronization reveal a coupling-decoupling paradox

Yago Emanoel Ramos, Raphael Silva do Rosário+7 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jan 7, 2026

Action Observation and Synchronization0 citations

TL;DR

The paper shows that in collaborative dance improvisation, training increases inter-brain neural synchronization while decreasing interpersonal motor synchrony, suggesting togetherness arises from shared neural intentionality rather than identical movements.

ABSTRACT

Collective improvisation in dance provides a rich natural laboratory for studying emergent coordination in coupled neuro-motor systems. Here, we investigate how training shapes spontaneous synchronization patterns in both movement and brain signals during collaborative performance. Using a dual-recording protocol integrating 3D motion capture and hyperscanning EEG, participants engaged in free, interaction-driven, and rule-based improvisation before and after a program of generative dance, grounded in cellular-automata. Motor behavior was modeled through a time-resolved α-exponent derived from Movement Element Decomposition scaling between mean velocity and displacement, revealing fluctuations in energetic strategies and degrees of freedom. Synchronization events were quantified using Motif Synchronization (biomechanical data) and multilayer Time-Varying Graphs (neural data), enabling the detection of nontrivial lead-lag dependencies beyond zero-lag entrainment. Results indicate that training produced an intriguing dissociation: inter-brain synchronization increased, particularly within the frontal lobe, while interpersonal motor synchrony decreased. This opposite trend suggests that enhanced participatory sense-making fosters neural alignment while simultaneously expanding individual motor explorations, thereby reducing coupling in movement. Our findings position collaborative improvisation as a complex dynamical regime in which togetherness emerges not from identical motor outputs but from shared neural intentionality distributed across multilayer interaction networks, exemplifying the coupling-decoupling paradox, whereby increasing inter-brain synchrony supports the exploration of broader and mutually divergent motor trajectories. These results highlight the nonlinear nature of social coordination, offering new avenues for modeling creative joint action in human systems.

Motivation & Objective

• Investigate how training shapes spontaneous neural and motor synchronization during collaborative dance improvisation.
• Examine differences between free, interaction-driven, and rule-based improvisation before and after a generative-dance training program.

Proposed method

• Dual-recording protocol combining 3D motion capture and hyperscanning EEG.
• Motor behavior modeled with a time-resolved alpha-exponent from Movement Element Decomposition scaling.
• Synchronization quantified with Motif Synchronization on biomechanical data and multilayer Time-Varying Graphs on neural data.
• Analysis focused on lead-lag dependencies beyond zero-lag entrainment.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How does training affect inter-brain synchronization during collaborative improvisation?
• RQ2 How does training affect interpersonal motor synchrony during collaborative improvisation?
• RQ3 What do changes in neural and motor coupling imply about the nature of togetherness in joint action?

Key findings

• Training increases inter-brain synchronization, especially in the frontal lobe.
• Interpersonal motor synchrony decreases with training.
• Enhanced participatory sense-making coincides with neural alignment and expanded individual motor exploration.
• Togetherness emerges from distributed neural intentionality rather than identical motor output.
• The results reveal a coupling-decoupling paradox where neural coupling and motor coupling diverge.