Dear friends,
we are happy to share with you, Changemakers, the news regarding the Bessie award Germaine Acogny and
Koto Yamasaki. The two are deeply involved in understanding the roots of dance, one in Africa, the other one in Japan. This message is not so much about our entry in the competition, as it about knowledge expressed through movements and rhythm.
While this may be an unusual entry, there are many 'gaps' that need to be explained, not to mention its acceptance in the older population. Within this entry you have praised African Dance and its benefit for elders, but from an elder care specialist's viewpoint, many things remain unclear. Please do correct me if I am wrong.
1) You mention "AmazingGrace is based on documented evidence of the many benefits associated with African dance movements that help villagers in Senegal and Benin". Could you shed more light on this documented evidence? Where is it published (your group or otherwise)? I could not find anything on this subject. Or is this simply based on anecdotal evidence?
2) You also mention that the game does not require technical skill. Well, from the video, it looks like there is a lot of skill involved, especially when the target audience is the aged!
3) Which brings me to the next point How are you going to convince the elderly that an African dance will be beneficial to their physical and mental well being? Being in this industry for several years, I can tell you that older individuals are likely to get frustrated with these moves and may eventually give up. In other words, the issue of acceptance and compliance is left out. This is a very important issue that needs to be addressed. An obvious place to at least mention this issue should have been in the section "What barriers exist that are creating the problem your innovation is hoping to address/change?"
4) The issue of injuries has been ignored too, given the target population. With these complex spine movements and rhythmic moves, there is a very strong possibility of injury in the elderly. These issues are left out and should have been mentioned in the "what barriers exist" section.
5) Finally on a more practical note, you show all the sensors (in the video) that will be attached to the person while they perform this dance when tested. With so many sensors attached, one obviously loses concentration to follow the dance and then starts concentrating more on the sensors since it would be extremely distracting and uncomfortable. How are you going to dissociate the effects of this very important factor?
It would be helpful (and important) for us to learn about the potential drawbacks and limitations, rather than simply stating it's (yet to be proven) beneficial aspects.
Martha Jackson addressed quite a number of aspects pertinent to our submission. I would like to address each, although the level of detail has to be limited given the context of our dialog.
1. Independent of Germaine Acogny, who herself paid attention to the therapeutic aspects of the dances from which she extracted her “exercises”, here are some pointers:
Effects of Hatha Yoga and African Dance on Perceived Stress, Affect, and Salivary Cortisol, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2004, Vol. 28, No. 2, Pages 114-118; Hanna, Judith Lynne. "The Anthropology of Dance Ritual: Nigeria’s Ubakala Nkwa di Iche Iche." Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1976. __ "African Dance and the Warrior Tradition." InThe Warrior Tradition in Modern Africa. Special Issue of the Journal of Asian and African Studies. Ali A. Mazrui, ed. 12(1–2):111–133; in book form, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1977a. __Proposal for a Graduate Arts Therapy Program at The University of Texas at Dallas, 1977b; African dance: some implications for dance therapy; Judith Lynne Hanna. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 1995, 1(4): 323-331
American Journal of Dance Therapy, Publisher: Springer Netherlands; Nicola Oddy, Voices, Vol 5(2), July 1, 2005, Convergences: Possibilities for Therapeutic Intervention in a Large Scale Community Performance.
Let me mention, in addition to the above (by no means an exhaustive survey), that at the Cleveland State University there is a Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance program , within which the African dance plays an important role.
Germaine Acogny, during her work with Maurice Béjart (Brussels, 1982), studied the details of the rhythms and movements and produced, for the famous workshop Béjart founded, proof of their therapeutic value. In addition, as she later experienced the Brazilian dance, and the Japanese dance (working with Kota Yamasaki), she focused even more on the therapeutic aspects, extracting new movements with therapeutic value. As far as I know, some of this work was validated by researchers in Europe and the USA. Let me mention the work of Heather Lundy, Drexel University, in an attempt to incorporate dance and other therapy techniques. Mirror neuron research, which our Institute considers as a very powerful technique for documenting how dance affects young and old, produced also some important data validating the claim.
2. There is no standard dance, there are selections. Each corresponds to what the INDIVIDUAL can afford. For the aging, the level of individualized selection is determined by their particular abilities and by the goal of the action (focused stimulation of brain plasticity). Yes, technical skill is not required, but this applies to the technology used. The user does NOT have to become computer literate. This is what I tried to explain.
3. Convincing the aging—for us this is NOT a barrier. So far, each time we addressed the aging there was interest. Acceptance is a broad problem. I would prefer to make reference to the Seneludens project. No, nobody can convince us to take pills, to undergo surgery, to exercize, you name it, unless the benefits are recognizable.
4. Injuries—I feel bad that I did NOT explain better the game. One can get involved with AmazingGrace while in a wheelchair! There are movements, limited movements, that can be performed even by someone bedridden. This is what distinguishes the game from others. Brain plasticity can be stimulated without engaging a person in a dangerous situation. What needs to happen, is the INDIVIDUALIZATION, the adaption to the person. This applies to the movements and rhythms.
5. The sensors you see in the explanation for the AnticipationScope are used for quantifying the results. For those who play, young or old, all there is are reflectors attached to the shorts, shirts, etc. with Velcro. No interference whatsoever with the activity.
Let me hope that these limited answers clarify your questions.
The only point on which I do NOT agree with you, is the cavalier suggestion that somehow beneficial aspects were more vaporware than based on solid scientific record. I do not mind providing references even to those who should have no problems in researching the literature. But I am unhappy when the main reason of our effort, i.e. provide scientific proof of the impact of games, is ignored. As a scientific platform designed to allow us to quantify the consequences of engaging through the game medium the
AnticipationScope remains quite unique so far. Sure, it takes time to pay attention to all the details, and to visit the Internet resources (seneludens.utdallas.edu) that document the endeavour.
Thank you for your reply and the references.
Yes, I have seen these references but what I am looking for is thorough scientific evidence. Can you provide me with real scientific evidence? Many of the "papers" (and i have read them before and also talked to some of the authors) that you provide are vague and arcane in these terms. You said:
"....therapeutic aspects, extracting new movements with therapeutic value. As far as I know, some of this work was validated by researchers in Europe and the USA"
That is what I want to know: where has her work been validated? I don't mean to be pushy, but it is important for us to know this.
another point:
My colleague has this question - The sensors you said are used for quantifying the results. Then you say "it "reads" the movements" So it does both? How exactly? Are they the same sensors or different sensors that do the reading and feedback? What is the procedure behind that? Are some sensors only measuring? This is not at all clear to us.
The reason we ask is not for the sake of argument but because we are developing something similar and my colleague is interested in knowing what evidence you are talking about and how you go about implementing it. Unfortnately, I still think that more solid evidence (rather than vaporware) will still be needed in the future.
Thank you.
Thanks for your interesting entry, Professor Nadin.
Your film demonstrates that your game will offer "rewards" for well-performed movement. I wonder: will it also include a device that makes it corrective of poorly performed movements? (I ask because I know some fear that Wii- play can enable people to damage their bodies through repeatingly rotating a joint, or thrusting a limb, in a direction it ought not go; and that people can bring damage to their backs by sitting poorly (Having done african dance (poorly), I suspect I could damage myself that way too...)
I'm also interested in learning more about what cognitive benefits have been proven to descend from African Dance. Are those benefits different in type or in degree than the benefits that come from other forms of exercise?
Watching Germaine Acogny give classes made me aware that without a proper feedback procedure the game will not do enough good to those who will choose to use it. She is very meticulous, she paid attention to all those who danced with her and she was very precise. Indeed, the wrong movement can affect the subject in a less than desired way. Having said that: the game has a feedback function, i.e. it "reads" the movements, but it does so in a selective manner. When accent is on a certain arm or body movement, the reflectors return the real values which are compared to the desired value (an average based on Acogny's movement, with a different margin of error that corresponds to the charasteristics of the subject). Errors in the movement are displayed, together with a projection of a the appropriate movement.
Regarding cognitive characteristics: what the African dance carries with it are patterns of rhythm and movement. We identified so far almost 20 such patterns. In addition, the dance has embedded forms of transition, i.e. from one pattern to another. In some ways to dance is to learn such transitions. Interestingly enough, the patterns correspond to the type of mobility characteristic of some activities. They are focused on sense of balance, on engaging the entire body in some activities, on eye-hand coordination, etc. The transitiions are as important as each pattern. Other forms of exercise might focus on some precise fucntions, but very rarely on fluid transitions from one cognitive state to another.
Thanks for your response. I wonder, Professor Nadin: can you unpack the second paragraph a bit -- ie provide further information about the links between cognition and rhythm/movement? I know that the definition of cognition varies according to the discipline. I'd appreciate what help you can provide (briefly) in enabling me to develop an understanding of, or definition of, cognition that can embrace or include rhythm and movement, because the understanding of cognition I hold now does not. (It's my hope that the explanation will help me and other readers gain a better grasp of the change your game promises to motivate.)
The underlying concept of our research aiming at games for the aging is that of anticipation (cf. seneludens.utdallas.edu). To explain anticipation while answering your question would be a bit awkward. Still, anticipation as an autonomous expression guides all our actions. We are not born with it, anticipatory characteristics are acquired through learning. Such characteristics are evident in our normal activity (as we walk, climb stairs, jump, fall, etc.), as they are constitutive of high performance (it is on account of anticipation that a fast tennis serve is returned, or that on downhill skiing we handle many obstacles for which reaction would not be fast enough). As we age, some anticipatory characteristics are lost. In some cases, we compensate for such loss due to brain plasticity. I know that this short explanation can only be superficial. Science is always more than good examples. But I assume that you and all those who read your question will realize that anticipation means that in addition to the physics of cause and effect the living is operating also in a domain where adaptive capabilities, based on very complex processes allow us to deal with the future in a diffferent way than let us say a stone does. The stone falls always the same way. A cat or a human being will not fall twice the same way. With age, we "know" less how to fall the "right way." Well, for this process of anticipation to happen, we need in addition to the "natural" clock a faster than real time clock. In other words, we need timing processes that affect control mechanisms and synchronization. Enough of this introduction.
Back to the dance. Rhythm, when understood as part of our timing substratum, supports anticipatory processes. The African dance we captured has a variety of rhythms, some very subtle, others relatively easy to follow. Internalizing rhythm corresponds to learning, to acquisition of time experience. Yes, we do NOT react as we dance at a certain rhythm, we anticipate it. There is a future-mindedness in the process.
Movement and rhythm are actually part of cognitive processes. i will finish by noting that movement is rarely independent of cognition. Also, dance imitation facilitates mirror neuron plasticity in the premotor cortex that helps refine the movements/rhythm further. In this case, we understand actions by motor simulation, and this is a cognitive process.
Answering questions is also a learning experience. We take for granted that what we happen to know is automatically shared by everyone else. Well, mirror neurons are not yet a new method for sharing knwoledge. Maybe our next game might try this idea. Maybe...Thank you for asking the question.
Thanks very much for your helpful response. It enhanced my understanding of precisely how fundamental anticipation is. I did know that I'm almost incapable of speeding through the Times Square subway station (particularly during rush hour) without "hearing" the voice of my high school field hockey coach yell "Tucker -- ANTICIPATE!!" and that what I learned about anticipation in high-school hockey makes me much more adept at dodging pedestrians and crowds now. Yet, I'd not realized it could be applied to, or was important in aging - and aging well...
I need a bit more help, I fear, to understand your expectations on the ways in which your African dance game will aid people in their aging; and I regret that my lack of access to the right vocabulary is likely to make my questions sound pretty crude. Are you suggesting that engaging with rhythm is a way of keeping one's anticipatory powers "fit"? Is african dance a form of calisthenics not only for the body but for the part of the brain that anticipates? And are you suggesting that, if we manage to keep the anticipatory part of our brain "fit", we're much less likely to fall in a way that damages us, when we do fall? If so: can you provide another example (ie one in addition to falling) of the kinds of gains or advantages we're likely to enjoy by having "fit" anticipatory systems?
For objects/actions governed exclusively by physics, reaction quantifies the process. Imagine the act of sitting. If only physics, i.e. reaction would be at work, each time we would sit on a chair we would a. endanger ourselves (the weight falling on the chair would cause as to feel the "reaction" equal to the force applied); b. we would endanger the chair. Actually, anticipation makes the sitting a "soft landing"--and prevents injury. That older people have a problem when they want to sit is reflective of their diminished anticipation (factors such as correctly evaluating the position of the chair, the rigidity of the chair, etc correspond to reduced cognitive performance; the lack of control corresponds to diminished motoric abilities). Is the African dance going to address sitting? No. It addresses the many components that are expressed in anticipatory characteristics.
More examples:
The action of hammering a nail can be fully described through mathematical descriptions of the physical phenomena pertinent to the operation. : If the arm operating the hammer is a mechanical contraption, the force applied on the head of the nail is constant, regardless of whether the nail has to penetrate a soft and porous or hard and dense material. The mechanical arm does not “know” how to adapt the grip to the task at hand. If the arm belongs to a human being, the grip is adjusted autonomously, in the course of the operation. The person knows what grip is needed to successfully perform the operation Still, a child might use a grip that is too weak (and the hammer flies away); an older person might misjudge the grip force, or might not have the strength required by the effort (and again the hammer flies away). To an observer of the action, it seems that the person hammering anticipates the right grip.
Take something as simple as fluctuations in the heartbeat. Data collected in endless physiological observations made doctors aware of such fluctuations. Patients experience them as discomfort. Sometimes we know what they mean. A good diagnostician can distinguish between “normal” irregularities and others related to a condition requiring treatment. Change in posture—standing up from a seated position, for example—would cause changes in blood pressure. . It seems that a certain reflex, called the baroreceptor reflex (cf. Kirchheim, 1976, p. 107) affects the heart rate via the nervous system in order to maintain the blood pressure within relatively constant and safe limits. How does the heart “know” about a change in position? Anticipation at work--is my short answer. If this anticipation is not "in order" getting out of bed causes dizzines, so does the change in wheather. On the basis of anticipation the heart rate compensates for the change in posture in advance, in order to avoid variations in blood pressure.
In various situations—such as crossing a street or catching a falling object; or when we so often “know” (or do we guess?) what words will follow as someone speaks to us, a joke’s punch-line, someone’s age, whose footsteps we hear long after we last had contact with the person--we have anticipation at work.
It is acquired in time, and it gets diminished with age.
The dance that informs our game is useful for young (acquiring anticipation) and for old (maintaining it).
Final note: on all examples I gave you, we have the lab data to back up the anticipation description. This is our goal: to provide EVIDENCE related to the effectiveness of games.
Sorry for the relatively long answer. But once you raised the question of other examples, our own thinking was stimulated. Best wishes.
Thanks for providing such helpful, thoughtful responses. They've significantly increased my understanding of how anticipation works and how your tool promises to help in the development or sustenance of a person's anticipatory mechanism.
At this stage I wonder only whether African dance is significantly more helpful to a person's anticipatory function than other forms of dance (e.g salsa), or whether there are any generalities associated with the dance forms that are... (Eg all dance forms formed around a rapid or regular rhythm?)
Germaine Acogny collected dances, i.e. rhythms and specific movements. It is not a dance (salsa, or hora for the Greeks, or...you name it), it is a long term ritual, engaging youg and old. And it is transmitted from one generation to another. While DDR dances are...dances, and therefore good for engaging the young who are obese, Acogny's collection is transmitted experience. We identified several "stories,", short narrations, but also a very large variety of movements that address all parts of the body, some executed under expectations of synchronicity, others in a syncopated sequence. It is a very rich language of movements, with the underlying changes in rhythm, all meant to maintain the adaptive capabilities of the individuals in the community sharing in the wisdom expressed through dance. Ideally, the dance should be executed not alone, but in some form of collective participation. But this is a dimension we do not yet fully comprehend. If the African village, subjected to many extreme factors (in which anticipation plays an important role, i.e. hunting, to name only one), uses dance to transmit experience and to maintain performance, it does so not for the sake of the dance, but for the sake of life and survival. This is the main difference. In answering this question, i do not want to take the role of the advocate, rather to say that as we look for wisdom in books, we should look for it in the many other forms in which it might be expressed. Not that I doubt the wisdom of Lambada or Fox Trot, or Valse (which i like, but would never claim that it enhances someone's adaptive capabilities).
Until next time, maybe an occasion to dance (if you and i can find one dance that we both enjoy), I hope to have addressed your qualified question. i will pass your question to Germaine Acogny. She might give you a better answer. I know that she is very focused on the various aspects of the movement of the spine and how such movements continue into our extremities.
Are you familiar with the organization, The Elders? Given your tool's attachment to the power and wisdom of traditions (and the people associated with it) this program might prove of interest to you -- or perhaps your tool to them... http://www.theelders.org/history.aspx
Anticipation is an expression of change, i.e., dynamics. It underlies evolution. Change always means variation over time. In its dynamics, the physical is subject to the constant rhythm associated with the natural clock. The living is subject to many different clocks: the heartbeat has a rhythm different from saccadic movement; neuron firing in the brain takes place at yet another rhythm; so does metabolism. The real-time clock that measures intervals in the change of the physical and the faster-than-real-time clock of cognitive activity—we can imagine things well ahead of making them--are not independent of each other.
But this is still quite general. Let us examine another example:
“…when a man stands motionless upon his feet, if he extends his arm in front of his chest, he must move backwards a natural weight equal to that both natural and accidental which he moves towards the front.” Cf. Leonardo da Vinci (1498).
His observation is simple: a physical entity modeled after a human being (in wood, stone, metal etc.) would not maintain its balance if the arms attached to this body would be raised up (the center of gravity changes).
Leonardo da Vinci made this is observation, prompted his studying motoric aspects of human behavior. Five hundred years later, biologists and biophysicists addressing postural adjustment (Gahery, 1987, quotes Belenkii, Gurfinkel, Paltzer, 1967) proved that the compensation that da Vinci noticed—the muscles from the gluteus to the soleus tighten as a person raises his arm—slightly precede the beginning of the arm’s motion. In short, the compensation occurred in anticipation of the action.
We do NOT anticipate as in: I am going to anticipate this or that. Anticipation is an autonomous function. Like breathing. The rhythms and movements we focus upon are tested over time by people with very strong anticipatory skills. Yes, the game is supposed to engage the entire person because anticipation is a holistic expression of the body in action.
Does the game go a long way toward uncoupling the dance movements from the cultural context that "makes sense" of them and gives them meaning? Perhaps one way to address this, if this game were used by groups and institutions, would be to enrich the experience by inviting local drummers to play for the participants (which would also be a good opportunity for African drummers).
Germaine Acogny was concerned about the specificity of the dance. Therefore, over many years, she worked hard at finding, on her own, which are the elements that have a "universal" nature. During her visit at our Institute, we continued the effort. The AnticipationScope allowed us to focus on details and find out which were specific and which were more general. The game, however, will allow for an individualized selection. In other words, it can be specific for those who share in the cultural background, or less specific for those of a different background.
I hope this answers your question which I find very important in this day and age of undifferentiated "globalism."
Dear friends,
we are happy to share with you, Changemakers, the news regarding the Bessie award Germaine Acogny and
Koto Yamasaki. The two are deeply involved in understanding the roots of dance, one in Africa, the other one in Japan. This message is not so much about our entry in the competition, as it about knowledge expressed through movements and rhythm.
While this may be an unusual entry, there are many 'gaps' that need to be explained, not to mention its acceptance in the older population. Within this entry you have praised African Dance and its benefit for elders, but from an elder care specialist's viewpoint, many things remain unclear. Please do correct me if I am wrong.
1) You mention "AmazingGrace is based on documented evidence of the many benefits associated with African dance movements that help villagers in Senegal and Benin". Could you shed more light on this documented evidence? Where is it published (your group or otherwise)? I could not find anything on this subject. Or is this simply based on anecdotal evidence?
2) You also mention that the game does not require technical skill. Well, from the video, it looks like there is a lot of skill involved, especially when the target audience is the aged!
3) Which brings me to the next point How are you going to convince the elderly that an African dance will be beneficial to their physical and mental well being? Being in this industry for several years, I can tell you that older individuals are likely to get frustrated with these moves and may eventually give up. In other words, the issue of acceptance and compliance is left out. This is a very important issue that needs to be addressed. An obvious place to at least mention this issue should have been in the section "What barriers exist that are creating the problem your innovation is hoping to address/change?"
4) The issue of injuries has been ignored too, given the target population. With these complex spine movements and rhythmic moves, there is a very strong possibility of injury in the elderly. These issues are left out and should have been mentioned in the "what barriers exist" section.
5) Finally on a more practical note, you show all the sensors (in the video) that will be attached to the person while they perform this dance when tested. With so many sensors attached, one obviously loses concentration to follow the dance and then starts concentrating more on the sensors since it would be extremely distracting and uncomfortable. How are you going to dissociate the effects of this very important factor?
It would be helpful (and important) for us to learn about the potential drawbacks and limitations, rather than simply stating it's (yet to be proven) beneficial aspects.
Martha Jackson addressed quite a number of aspects pertinent to our submission. I would like to address each, although the level of detail has to be limited given the context of our dialog.
1. Independent of Germaine Acogny, who herself paid attention to the therapeutic aspects of the dances from which she extracted her “exercises”, here are some pointers:
Effects of Hatha Yoga and African Dance on Perceived Stress, Affect, and Salivary Cortisol, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2004, Vol. 28, No. 2, Pages 114-118; Hanna, Judith Lynne. "The Anthropology of Dance Ritual: Nigeria’s Ubakala Nkwa di Iche Iche." Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1976. __ "African Dance and the Warrior Tradition." InThe Warrior Tradition in Modern Africa. Special Issue of the Journal of Asian and African Studies. Ali A. Mazrui, ed. 12(1–2):111–133; in book form, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1977a. __Proposal for a Graduate Arts Therapy Program at The University of Texas at Dallas, 1977b; African dance: some implications for dance therapy; Judith Lynne Hanna. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 1995, 1(4): 323-331
American Journal of Dance Therapy, Publisher: Springer Netherlands; Nicola Oddy, Voices, Vol 5(2), July 1, 2005, Convergences: Possibilities for Therapeutic Intervention in a Large Scale Community Performance.
Let me mention, in addition to the above (by no means an exhaustive survey), that at the Cleveland State University there is a Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance program , within which the African dance plays an important role.
Germaine Acogny, during her work with Maurice Béjart (Brussels, 1982), studied the details of the rhythms and movements and produced, for the famous workshop Béjart founded, proof of their therapeutic value. In addition, as she later experienced the Brazilian dance, and the Japanese dance (working with Kota Yamasaki), she focused even more on the therapeutic aspects, extracting new movements with therapeutic value. As far as I know, some of this work was validated by researchers in Europe and the USA. Let me mention the work of Heather Lundy, Drexel University, in an attempt to incorporate dance and other therapy techniques. Mirror neuron research, which our Institute considers as a very powerful technique for documenting how dance affects young and old, produced also some important data validating the claim.
2. There is no standard dance, there are selections. Each corresponds to what the INDIVIDUAL can afford. For the aging, the level of individualized selection is determined by their particular abilities and by the goal of the action (focused stimulation of brain plasticity). Yes, technical skill is not required, but this applies to the technology used. The user does NOT have to become computer literate. This is what I tried to explain.
3. Convincing the aging—for us this is NOT a barrier. So far, each time we addressed the aging there was interest. Acceptance is a broad problem. I would prefer to make reference to the Seneludens project. No, nobody can convince us to take pills, to undergo surgery, to exercize, you name it, unless the benefits are recognizable.
4. Injuries—I feel bad that I did NOT explain better the game. One can get involved with AmazingGrace while in a wheelchair! There are movements, limited movements, that can be performed even by someone bedridden. This is what distinguishes the game from others. Brain plasticity can be stimulated without engaging a person in a dangerous situation. What needs to happen, is the INDIVIDUALIZATION, the adaption to the person. This applies to the movements and rhythms.
5. The sensors you see in the explanation for the AnticipationScope are used for quantifying the results. For those who play, young or old, all there is are reflectors attached to the shorts, shirts, etc. with Velcro. No interference whatsoever with the activity.
Let me hope that these limited answers clarify your questions.
The only point on which I do NOT agree with you, is the cavalier suggestion that somehow beneficial aspects were more vaporware than based on solid scientific record. I do not mind providing references even to those who should have no problems in researching the literature. But I am unhappy when the main reason of our effort, i.e. provide scientific proof of the impact of games, is ignored. As a scientific platform designed to allow us to quantify the consequences of engaging through the game medium the
AnticipationScope remains quite unique so far. Sure, it takes time to pay attention to all the details, and to visit the Internet resources (seneludens.utdallas.edu) that document the endeavour.
Thank you for your questions.
Thank you for your reply and the references.
Yes, I have seen these references but what I am looking for is thorough scientific evidence. Can you provide me with real scientific evidence? Many of the "papers" (and i have read them before and also talked to some of the authors) that you provide are vague and arcane in these terms. You said:
"....therapeutic aspects, extracting new movements with therapeutic value. As far as I know, some of this work was validated by researchers in Europe and the USA"
That is what I want to know: where has her work been validated? I don't mean to be pushy, but it is important for us to know this.
another point:
My colleague has this question - The sensors you said are used for quantifying the results. Then you say "it "reads" the movements" So it does both? How exactly? Are they the same sensors or different sensors that do the reading and feedback? What is the procedure behind that? Are some sensors only measuring? This is not at all clear to us.
The reason we ask is not for the sake of argument but because we are developing something similar and my colleague is interested in knowing what evidence you are talking about and how you go about implementing it. Unfortnately, I still think that more solid evidence (rather than vaporware) will still be needed in the future.
Thank you.
Thanks for your interesting entry, Professor Nadin.
Your film demonstrates that your game will offer "rewards" for well-performed movement. I wonder: will it also include a device that makes it corrective of poorly performed movements? (I ask because I know some fear that Wii- play can enable people to damage their bodies through repeatingly rotating a joint, or thrusting a limb, in a direction it ought not go; and that people can bring damage to their backs by sitting poorly (Having done african dance (poorly), I suspect I could damage myself that way too...)
I'm also interested in learning more about what cognitive benefits have been proven to descend from African Dance. Are those benefits different in type or in degree than the benefits that come from other forms of exercise?
I look forward to hearing your responses.
Best,
Diane
Changemakers
Watching Germaine Acogny give classes made me aware that without a proper feedback procedure the game will not do enough good to those who will choose to use it. She is very meticulous, she paid attention to all those who danced with her and she was very precise. Indeed, the wrong movement can affect the subject in a less than desired way. Having said that: the game has a feedback function, i.e. it "reads" the movements, but it does so in a selective manner. When accent is on a certain arm or body movement, the reflectors return the real values which are compared to the desired value (an average based on Acogny's movement, with a different margin of error that corresponds to the charasteristics of the subject). Errors in the movement are displayed, together with a projection of a the appropriate movement.
Regarding cognitive characteristics: what the African dance carries with it are patterns of rhythm and movement. We identified so far almost 20 such patterns. In addition, the dance has embedded forms of transition, i.e. from one pattern to another. In some ways to dance is to learn such transitions. Interestingly enough, the patterns correspond to the type of mobility characteristic of some activities. They are focused on sense of balance, on engaging the entire body in some activities, on eye-hand coordination, etc. The transitiions are as important as each pattern. Other forms of exercise might focus on some precise fucntions, but very rarely on fluid transitions from one cognitive state to another.
Thanks for your response. I wonder, Professor Nadin: can you unpack the second paragraph a bit -- ie provide further information about the links between cognition and rhythm/movement? I know that the definition of cognition varies according to the discipline. I'd appreciate what help you can provide (briefly) in enabling me to develop an understanding of, or definition of, cognition that can embrace or include rhythm and movement, because the understanding of cognition I hold now does not. (It's my hope that the explanation will help me and other readers gain a better grasp of the change your game promises to motivate.)
I look forward to hearing your response.
Best,
Diane
Changemakers
The underlying concept of our research aiming at games for the aging is that of anticipation (cf. seneludens.utdallas.edu). To explain anticipation while answering your question would be a bit awkward. Still, anticipation as an autonomous expression guides all our actions. We are not born with it, anticipatory characteristics are acquired through learning. Such characteristics are evident in our normal activity (as we walk, climb stairs, jump, fall, etc.), as they are constitutive of high performance (it is on account of anticipation that a fast tennis serve is returned, or that on downhill skiing we handle many obstacles for which reaction would not be fast enough). As we age, some anticipatory characteristics are lost. In some cases, we compensate for such loss due to brain plasticity. I know that this short explanation can only be superficial. Science is always more than good examples. But I assume that you and all those who read your question will realize that anticipation means that in addition to the physics of cause and effect the living is operating also in a domain where adaptive capabilities, based on very complex processes allow us to deal with the future in a diffferent way than let us say a stone does. The stone falls always the same way. A cat or a human being will not fall twice the same way. With age, we "know" less how to fall the "right way." Well, for this process of anticipation to happen, we need in addition to the "natural" clock a faster than real time clock. In other words, we need timing processes that affect control mechanisms and synchronization. Enough of this introduction.
Back to the dance. Rhythm, when understood as part of our timing substratum, supports anticipatory processes. The African dance we captured has a variety of rhythms, some very subtle, others relatively easy to follow. Internalizing rhythm corresponds to learning, to acquisition of time experience. Yes, we do NOT react as we dance at a certain rhythm, we anticipate it. There is a future-mindedness in the process.
Movement and rhythm are actually part of cognitive processes. i will finish by noting that movement is rarely independent of cognition. Also, dance imitation facilitates mirror neuron plasticity in the premotor cortex that helps refine the movements/rhythm further. In this case, we understand actions by motor simulation, and this is a cognitive process.
Answering questions is also a learning experience. We take for granted that what we happen to know is automatically shared by everyone else. Well, mirror neurons are not yet a new method for sharing knwoledge. Maybe our next game might try this idea. Maybe...Thank you for asking the question.
Thanks very much for your helpful response. It enhanced my understanding of precisely how fundamental anticipation is. I did know that I'm almost incapable of speeding through the Times Square subway station (particularly during rush hour) without "hearing" the voice of my high school field hockey coach yell "Tucker -- ANTICIPATE!!" and that what I learned about anticipation in high-school hockey makes me much more adept at dodging pedestrians and crowds now. Yet, I'd not realized it could be applied to, or was important in aging - and aging well...
I need a bit more help, I fear, to understand your expectations on the ways in which your African dance game will aid people in their aging; and I regret that my lack of access to the right vocabulary is likely to make my questions sound pretty crude. Are you suggesting that engaging with rhythm is a way of keeping one's anticipatory powers "fit"? Is african dance a form of calisthenics not only for the body but for the part of the brain that anticipates? And are you suggesting that, if we manage to keep the anticipatory part of our brain "fit", we're much less likely to fall in a way that damages us, when we do fall? If so: can you provide another example (ie one in addition to falling) of the kinds of gains or advantages we're likely to enjoy by having "fit" anticipatory systems?
I look forward to hearing your responses.
Best,
Diane
Changemakers
For objects/actions governed exclusively by physics, reaction quantifies the process. Imagine the act of sitting. If only physics, i.e. reaction would be at work, each time we would sit on a chair we would a. endanger ourselves (the weight falling on the chair would cause as to feel the "reaction" equal to the force applied); b. we would endanger the chair. Actually, anticipation makes the sitting a "soft landing"--and prevents injury. That older people have a problem when they want to sit is reflective of their diminished anticipation (factors such as correctly evaluating the position of the chair, the rigidity of the chair, etc correspond to reduced cognitive performance; the lack of control corresponds to diminished motoric abilities). Is the African dance going to address sitting? No. It addresses the many components that are expressed in anticipatory characteristics.
More examples:
The action of hammering a nail can be fully described through mathematical descriptions of the physical phenomena pertinent to the operation. : If the arm operating the hammer is a mechanical contraption, the force applied on the head of the nail is constant, regardless of whether the nail has to penetrate a soft and porous or hard and dense material. The mechanical arm does not “know” how to adapt the grip to the task at hand. If the arm belongs to a human being, the grip is adjusted autonomously, in the course of the operation. The person knows what grip is needed to successfully perform the operation Still, a child might use a grip that is too weak (and the hammer flies away); an older person might misjudge the grip force, or might not have the strength required by the effort (and again the hammer flies away). To an observer of the action, it seems that the person hammering anticipates the right grip.
Take something as simple as fluctuations in the heartbeat. Data collected in endless physiological observations made doctors aware of such fluctuations. Patients experience them as discomfort. Sometimes we know what they mean. A good diagnostician can distinguish between “normal” irregularities and others related to a condition requiring treatment. Change in posture—standing up from a seated position, for example—would cause changes in blood pressure. . It seems that a certain reflex, called the baroreceptor reflex (cf. Kirchheim, 1976, p. 107) affects the heart rate via the nervous system in order to maintain the blood pressure within relatively constant and safe limits. How does the heart “know” about a change in position? Anticipation at work--is my short answer. If this anticipation is not "in order" getting out of bed causes dizzines, so does the change in wheather. On the basis of anticipation the heart rate compensates for the change in posture in advance, in order to avoid variations in blood pressure.
In various situations—such as crossing a street or catching a falling object; or when we so often “know” (or do we guess?) what words will follow as someone speaks to us, a joke’s punch-line, someone’s age, whose footsteps we hear long after we last had contact with the person--we have anticipation at work.
It is acquired in time, and it gets diminished with age.
The dance that informs our game is useful for young (acquiring anticipation) and for old (maintaining it).
Final note: on all examples I gave you, we have the lab data to back up the anticipation description. This is our goal: to provide EVIDENCE related to the effectiveness of games.
Sorry for the relatively long answer. But once you raised the question of other examples, our own thinking was stimulated. Best wishes.
Thanks for providing such helpful, thoughtful responses. They've significantly increased my understanding of how anticipation works and how your tool promises to help in the development or sustenance of a person's anticipatory mechanism.
At this stage I wonder only whether African dance is significantly more helpful to a person's anticipatory function than other forms of dance (e.g salsa), or whether there are any generalities associated with the dance forms that are... (Eg all dance forms formed around a rapid or regular rhythm?)
I look forward to hearing your response.
Best,
diane
Changemakers
Germaine Acogny collected dances, i.e. rhythms and specific movements. It is not a dance (salsa, or hora for the Greeks, or...you name it), it is a long term ritual, engaging youg and old. And it is transmitted from one generation to another. While DDR dances are...dances, and therefore good for engaging the young who are obese, Acogny's collection is transmitted experience. We identified several "stories,", short narrations, but also a very large variety of movements that address all parts of the body, some executed under expectations of synchronicity, others in a syncopated sequence. It is a very rich language of movements, with the underlying changes in rhythm, all meant to maintain the adaptive capabilities of the individuals in the community sharing in the wisdom expressed through dance. Ideally, the dance should be executed not alone, but in some form of collective participation. But this is a dimension we do not yet fully comprehend. If the African village, subjected to many extreme factors (in which anticipation plays an important role, i.e. hunting, to name only one), uses dance to transmit experience and to maintain performance, it does so not for the sake of the dance, but for the sake of life and survival. This is the main difference. In answering this question, i do not want to take the role of the advocate, rather to say that as we look for wisdom in books, we should look for it in the many other forms in which it might be expressed. Not that I doubt the wisdom of Lambada or Fox Trot, or Valse (which i like, but would never claim that it enhances someone's adaptive capabilities).
Until next time, maybe an occasion to dance (if you and i can find one dance that we both enjoy), I hope to have addressed your qualified question. i will pass your question to Germaine Acogny. She might give you a better answer. I know that she is very focused on the various aspects of the movement of the spine and how such movements continue into our extremities.
Are you familiar with the organization, The Elders? Given your tool's attachment to the power and wisdom of traditions (and the people associated with it) this program might prove of interest to you -- or perhaps your tool to them... http://www.theelders.org/history.aspx
Best,
Diane
Changemakers
Anticipation is an expression of change, i.e., dynamics. It underlies evolution. Change always means variation over time. In its dynamics, the physical is subject to the constant rhythm associated with the natural clock. The living is subject to many different clocks: the heartbeat has a rhythm different from saccadic movement; neuron firing in the brain takes place at yet another rhythm; so does metabolism. The real-time clock that measures intervals in the change of the physical and the faster-than-real-time clock of cognitive activity—we can imagine things well ahead of making them--are not independent of each other.
But this is still quite general. Let us examine another example:
“…when a man stands motionless upon his feet, if he extends his arm in front of his chest, he must move backwards a natural weight equal to that both natural and accidental which he moves towards the front.” Cf. Leonardo da Vinci (1498).
His observation is simple: a physical entity modeled after a human being (in wood, stone, metal etc.) would not maintain its balance if the arms attached to this body would be raised up (the center of gravity changes).
Leonardo da Vinci made this is observation, prompted his studying motoric aspects of human behavior. Five hundred years later, biologists and biophysicists addressing postural adjustment (Gahery, 1987, quotes Belenkii, Gurfinkel, Paltzer, 1967) proved that the compensation that da Vinci noticed—the muscles from the gluteus to the soleus tighten as a person raises his arm—slightly precede the beginning of the arm’s motion. In short, the compensation occurred in anticipation of the action.
We do NOT anticipate as in: I am going to anticipate this or that. Anticipation is an autonomous function. Like breathing. The rhythms and movements we focus upon are tested over time by people with very strong anticipatory skills. Yes, the game is supposed to engage the entire person because anticipation is a holistic expression of the body in action.
Does the game go a long way toward uncoupling the dance movements from the cultural context that "makes sense" of them and gives them meaning? Perhaps one way to address this, if this game were used by groups and institutions, would be to enrich the experience by inviting local drummers to play for the participants (which would also be a good opportunity for African drummers).
Germaine Acogny was concerned about the specificity of the dance. Therefore, over many years, she worked hard at finding, on her own, which are the elements that have a "universal" nature. During her visit at our Institute, we continued the effort. The AnticipationScope allowed us to focus on details and find out which were specific and which were more general. The game, however, will allow for an individualized selection. In other words, it can be specific for those who share in the cultural background, or less specific for those of a different background.
I hope this answers your question which I find very important in this day and age of undifferentiated "globalism."