How does my scientific training make me a better dancer?

How does my scientific training make me a better dancer? 

Figure from my paper on adult neurogenesis [3].

• Learning through patterns: My scientific training helps me seek patterns and create an organizational structure to understand a concept, and ideally add to it. I find that I learn dance the same way as well.
  • For example, the principles I use to understand and explain the phylogenetic tree for wild chimpanzees [1]  to teach to my Seminars on Sciences Course students, are the same ones I use to learn a new jati (a sequence of movements). 

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• Creativity within a framework: Both Bharatanatyam and neuroscience have a structure and framework, the knowledge of which is acquired over years. 
  • However, there is something special in the way you can use the language and knowledge base to create new works, whether it be a paper on synaptic plasticity in the brain [2], or a piece I composed to evoke the feeling of seeing snow for the first time. 
• Finding depth: Both neuroscience and Bharatanatyam take time and patience to learn, let alone master. Immersing myself in dance and science has taught me the value of learning to love the journey of practice.
  • This sometimes seems out of place in a world of sound bites. Learning and appreciating the nuance, context, and depth of dance and science is something I love, which many times seems lost to executive summaries and bullet points.
• Finding the essence: My previous point of using the structure that is taught to create new works also is relevant to finding the essence of the discipline, whether it be art or science.
  • While this may vary for each person, I know that for me, the essence of dance in taking my work to senior centers and the essence of my science is to use this training for service. ​

Citations: 

1. Lycett SJ, Collard M, McGrew WC. Phylogenetic analyses of behavior support existence of culture among wild chimpanzees. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 6;104(45):17588-92. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0707930104. Epub 2007 Oct 29. PMID: 17968009; PMCID: PMC2077048. Link here. 
2. Iyengar SS, Mott DD. Neuregulin blocks synaptic strengthening after epileptiform activity in the rat hippocampus. Brain Res. 2008 May 7;1208:67-73. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2008.02.045. Epub 2008 Feb 29. PMID: 18387600. Link here. 
3. Iyengar SS, LaFrancois JJ, Friedman D, Drew LJ, Denny CA, Burghardt NS, Wu MV, Hsieh J, Hen R, Scharfman HE. Suppression of adult neurogenesis increases the acute effects of kainic acid. Exp Neurol. 2015 Feb;264:135-49. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2014.11.009. Epub 2014 Dec 2. PMID: 25476494; PMCID: PMC4800819. Link here.