"a prerequisite for some types of dancing, in both sacred and more modern 'profane' versions as either an artistic performer or a participant, is the ability to enter into such a higher state of awareness [1]."

Dance, through its social communication aspects, is also intimately linked with courtship and mating. Modern day dance parties called raves often involve the drug ecstasy. Ecstasy causes a shift in consciousness, which induces a trance-like mental state and increases a sense of intimacy with others. Of course, drugs aren't required to enter such altered states. Most of us flow back and forth on a daily and nightly basis through these various states of consciousness.

Dancers may be particularly prone to altered mental states. Rachael Bachner-Melman [1] and her colleagues found that a group of dancers who trained for at least 10 hours per week scored higher on a self-report test of absorption compared to a group of athletes and a group of nonathletes/nondancers. Their scale of absorption measures the "ability to attend intensely and imaginatively to stimuli" and has been linked in prior research to spirituality and altered states of consciousness. Dancers also scored higher on a self-report scale of "Reward Dependence" which measures a need for social contact and an openness to communications with others. Those scoring higher in reward dependence also tend to be tender-hearted, loving, warm, sensitive, dedicated, dependent, sociable, and are sensitive to social cues [6].

The researchers also obtained the DNA of all the participants, focusing on two particular polymorphic genes: the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor (AVPR1a) and the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4). AVPR1a has been linked to affiliative, social, and courtship behaviors [7], and serotonin plays a role in human spiritual and trance experiences [8]. Indeed, ecstasy, which I already mentioned is frequently used at dance raves, is a serotonergic neurotoxin. Other hallucinogens are linked to serotonin as well [9, 10]. Serotonin facilitates the release of vasopressin in the brain [11], suggesting that both of these genes display gene-gene interactions. 

Looking across their entire sample, they found a significant relation between AVPR1a and their measure of need for social contact. Prior research has shown links between AVPR1a and autism- a disorder that involves impairments in social communication- suggesting that variations of this gene are tied to social communication [12, 13]. There is even evidence for an evolutionary basis to this gene: vasopressin plays a role in social and courtship behavior universally in humans as well as other mammals and vertebrates [14, 15, 16, 17]. Therefore, AVPR1a may contribute to dancing through its social communication aspects, and these aspects may have its origins in our most distance ancestors. As the researchers note,

"the association between AVPR1a and dancing may be reflecting the importance of social relations and communication in the dance form and that both dance and its associated gene, AVPR1a, contribute to molding social interactions from the molecular level to the dance floor."

The researchers also found a significant relation between SLC6A4 and absorption scores, suggesting that this gene contributes to dancing through its transcendental aspects. As the researchers note, altered serotonin levels in carriers of the SLC6A4 promoter region allele may be more likely to display ability for imagery and attention to musical stimuli that

"may provide part of the 'hard wiring' that talented and devoted individuals need to perform in an art form that combines a unique combination of both musical and physical skills."

To top it off, the researchers found that the combination of both of these polymorphic variants was significantly overrepresented in the dancers.

Of course, it doesn't make sense to speak of "dancing genes". Still, higher representation of these variants in dancers suggests that these genes are part of the complex phenotype that is associated with dancing brilliance. The researchers give this summary:

"the association between AVPR1a and SLC6A4 reflects the social communication, courtship, and spiritual facets of the dancing phenotype rather than other aspects of this complex phenotype, such as sensorimotor integration."

The Creative Mind, Flow, and Proneness to Psychosis

Of course, creativity isn't just found in dancing. While dancing may have its own unique constellation of abilities and dispositions, there are also certain creative aspects that can be applied to any domain. The creative mind, however, can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it allows for heightened levels of fantasy, imagination, absorption, and flow. Flow- the mental state of being fully present and immersed in a task- is a strong contributor to many forms of artistic expression. When in flow, the creator and the universe become one, outside distractions recede from consciousness, and one's mind is fully open and attuned to the act of creating.

On the other hand, the creative mind leaves one vulnerable to psychosis. As I described in an earlier post (see Schizotypy, Flow, and the Artist's Experience), Nelson and Rawlings [18] investigated the relation between schizotypy and the creative experience in a sample of artists in fields as diverse as music, visual arts, theatre, and literature. Schizotypy is a watered-down version of schizophrenia, that consists of a constellation of personality traits that are evident in some degree in everyone and found in high degree among relatives of those with full-fledged, deabilitating schizophrenia. The researchers found that the positive schizotypal traits of unipolar affective disturbance and thin boundaries were related to four components of the artistic experience: distinct experience (loss of self-awareness, breakdown of boundaries), anxiety (vulnerability associated with the creative process), absorption (feelings of being deeply absorbed in the artistic activity), and power/pleasure (sense of control, power, and pleasure felt during the creative process). There was also a relation between the schizotypal traits and both openness to experience and neuroticism.