Increased Insular Connectivity and Enhanced Empathic Ability Associated with Dance/Music Training

Abstract

Dance and music are expressive art forms. Previous behavioural studies have reported that dancers/musicians show a better sensorimotor ability and emotional representation of others. However, the neural mechanism behind this phenomenon is not completely understood. Recently, intensive researches have identified that the insula is highly enrolled in the empathic process. Thus, to expand the knowledge of insular function associated with empathy under the dance/music training background, we mapped the insular network and its associated brain regions in 21 dancers, 20 musicians, and 24 healthy controls using resting-state functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Whole brain voxel-based analysis was performed using seeds from the posterior insula (PI), the ventral anterior insula (vAI), and the dorsal anterior insula (dAI). The training effects of dance and music on insular subnetworks were then evaluated using one-way analysis of variance ANOVA. Increased insular FC with those seeds was found in dancers/musicians, including PI and anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), vAI and middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and middle cingulated cortex (MCC), and dAI and ACC and MTG. In addition, significant associations were found between discrepant insular FC patterns and empathy scores in dancers and musicians. These results indicated that dance/music training might enhance insular subnetwork function, which would facilitate integration of intero/exteroceptive information and result in better affective sensitivity. Those changes might finally facilitate the subjects' empathic ability.

Figure 1

Functional connectivity of PI seeds. (a) Represents the results of the left PI, and (b) represents the results of the right PI. There is increased FC between PI and ACC and MCC in dancers and musicians compared with controls.

Figure 2

Functional connectivity of vAI seeds. (a) Represents the results of left vAI, and (b) represents the result of the right vAI. Increased FC is observed in ACC, MFC, left MTG, and left insula in dancers and musicians compared with controls.

Figure 3

Functional connectivity of dAI seeds. (a) Represents the results of the left dAI, and (b) represents the results of the right dAI. A significant increase in FC between dAI and ACC and left MTG is observed in dancers and musicians compared with controls. Only in the musician group is there a significantly higher FC between dAI and left postcentral and right precentral gyrus.

Figure 4

The positive associations between C-IRI scores and FC in the dancer group. Linear partial correlation coefficients between FC (left PI and MCC) and PT scores in dancers (blue solid line) and musicians (red broken line).

Figure 5

The positive associations between C-IRI scores and FC in the musician group. Linear partial correlation coefficients between FC and C-IRI scores in dancers (blue broken line) and musicians (red solid line). (a) Shows correlations between FC (between left vAI and MTG) and C-IRI total scores. (b) Shows correlations between FC (between left vAI and MTG) and EC scores. (c) Shows correlations between FC (between right vAI and MTG) and C-IRI total scores. (d) Shows correlations between FC (between right vAI and MTG) and EC scores.