Project description
Synchronised movement as a path to pain relief
Chronic pain affects millions across the EU, with fibromyalgia (FM) causing persistent discomfort and social isolation. FM disrupts not only physical sensations, but also how individuals connect with others, leading to invisible disabilities and emotional challenges. While dance is known to alleviate pain and foster social bonds, its effects on FM remain poorly understood, particularly the role of interpersonal neural synchrony (the brain and body’s rhythm alignment during shared movement). Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MDaNSEC project will design a tailored dance protocol to study INS in FM patients, using advanced brain imaging and motion tracking. By comparing social and individual dance impacts, it aims to uncover how synchronised movement can restore the social bodily self and reduce pain.
Objective
Chronic pain is a major public health challenge in the EU. Fibromyalgia (FM), a common chronic pain condition, disrupts both bodily self-consciousness and its connection to that of others (the social bodily self). No cure and complex symptomatology lead to invisible disability, alienation and social difficulties, creating an urgent need for new theoretical approaches and treatments. One of the most effective interventions is dance, although there are no specific dance training protocols for FM, and the mechanisms in dance responsible for its health benefits remain unknown. In typical adults, moving in synchrony with others triggers interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) (of movement, physiological function and brain activity), which increases bonding and reduces pain. It is unknown whether people with chronic pain experience the same INS and how this may affect their bodily self and social connectedness.
Therefore, our aims are: 1) to co-design and validate a dance protocol for investigating INS in FM, and 2) to investigate the effects of social (vs individual) dance on the social bodily self in FM to reveal the role of INS in these effects. Our project is based on a participatory design and a robust experimental plan, including a randomised controlled trial. We will use functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning, physiological recording, and precise body tracking to quantify INS during dance in people with pain and pain-free controls. The key impact of DaNSEC will be new high quality knowledge, made possible by the complementary expertise of two world-class advisors in interpersonal synchrony (lead advisor) and dance (co-advisor).
The results of this project will open up new avenues to explore the therapeutic potential of interpersonal synchrony for FM and other chronic pain conditions.
The fellowship will complement my expertise in FM and the bodily self with knowledge of INS and dance, and will be a major step towards becoming an independent researcher.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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WC1E 6BT LONDON
United Kingdom
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