It turns out that, ballerinas aren’t just a master of graceful movements and fancy footwork, they also have a “pirouette-proof” brains.
A study has determined the significant differences in their brain structures that allow them to avoid the feeling of light-headedness whenever they’re doing a set of endless pirouettes.
It strongly suggest that ballet dancers’ years of training have allowed their brains to develop a way to suppress the signals that are transmitted by the balance system in their inner ear, which would otherwise make them feel dizzy and may lead to loss of balance.
This finding, which was published in the Cerebral Cortex journal, could promote a better treatment for the sufferers of chronic dizziness, a problem that affects one in four people at one point in their lives.
Usually, the sensation of dizziness comes from the vestibular organs in the inner ear. This fluid-filled structure becomes aware of the rotation of one’s head with the use of the tiny hairs -- which can detect the movement of the fluid.
The fluid in the vestibular system continues to move even after a series of rapid spinning, which gives the sensation like you are still rotating.
Practitioners of ballet are able to execute a series of pirouettes without having the feeling of light-headedness. The findings proved that ballet dancers doesn’t just rely on “spotting” – a technique used by dancers while performing a series of dance turns, which involves the rapid movement of the head in order to fix their eyes on the same spot.
Twenty-nine female ballerinas and twenty female rowers of the same age and fitness level were recruited by the researchers at the Imperial College London. The participants were spun around while sitting in a chair in a dark room. They are instructed to turn a handle in time with how fast they felt like they were still turning around after they had stopped.
The researchers observed and measured the volunteers’ eye reflexes triggered by the signals coming from the vestibular organs. Subsequently, they have also analyzed the subjects’ brain structure through the use of MRI scans. The ballet dancers’ eye reflexes and their perception of spinning have diminished faster compared to the rowers
The Scientific American explained the reason behind it. “They were able to show that dancers had a decrease in the vestibular-ocular reflex. They moved their eyes less as they whipped around…And they also felt the turning less than controls. More importantly, the dancers sense of turning, and the vestibular-ocular reflex, were UNCOUPLED. They were not related to each other. So even though their eyes were moving in the reflex, they didn’t feel it!”
According to Dr Barry Seemungal, a neurologist who researches the brain mechanisms of dizziness and its treatment “Dizziness, which is the feeling that we are moving when in fact we are still, is a common problem.”
“I see a lot of patients who have suffered from dizziness for a long time. Ballet dancers seem to be able to train themselves not to get dizzy, so we wondered whether we could use the same principles to help our patients.” He continued.
The brain scans showed significant dissimilarities in the brain of the two sets of participants. The differences are found in two parts of their brain: an area in the cerebellum where sensory input from the vestibular organs is processed and in the cerebral cortex, which is in charge for the sensation of dizziness. The area in the cerebellum was smaller in the brain of the dancers.
Dr. Seemungal believes that this is because the brains of ballerinas have adopted not to use their vestibular systems, and instead rely on highly coordinated pre-programmed movements.
Seemungal stated that “It’s not useful for a ballet dancer to feel dizzy or off balance.”
“Their brains adapt over years of training to suppress that input. Consequently, the signal going to the brain areas responsible for perception of dizziness in the cerebral cortex is reduced, making dancers resistant to feeling dizzy. If we can target that same brain area or monitor it in patients with chronic dizziness, we can begin to understand how to treat them better.”
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