LiveWire

LiveWire is a groundbreaking neuroscience-art collaboration that captures brain activity from professional dancers during rehearsals and public performances using wireless mobile brain-body imaging (MoBI) technology. Data collection took place from June 2021 to April 2022, and the project resulted in a Nature Scientific Data publication. We continue to conduct new analyses on this dataset.

The Research

Using the hyperscanning method, we recorded physiological and motion data simultaneously from two professional dancers. The 28-minute choreography, composed by Anthony Brandt, is divided into five sections, each inspired by a different neuroscience concept:

1. Unconscious Automated Sub-routines - How sensory data is processed
2. Repetition Suppression - How the brain responds to predictable stimuli
3. Internal Model of Reality - The brain’s constructed model vs. external reality
4. Serial Order Effect - How ideas get progressively more creative over time
5. Dynamism of Thought - Competing needs and desires in conscious attention

Technology

The study employed cutting-edge mobile brain-body imaging technology:

• 28-channel scalp EEG (1000 Hz)
• 4-channel EOG for eye movement tracking
• IMU sensors for head motion capture
• Real-time brain-to-brain synchrony visualization
• Video recordings for behavioral analysis

Collaborators

• NobleMotion Dance - Andy Noble, Dionne Noble, Lauren Serrano, Tyler Orcutt
• Rice University Shepherd School of Music - Anthony Brandt
• UH BRAIN Center - Dr. Jose L. Contreras-Vidal

Publication

Pacheco-Ramírez, M.A., et al. (2024). Neural Dynamics of Creative Movements During the Rehearsal and Performance of “LiveWire”. Scientific Data, 11, 1208.

Read the paper on Nature

Open Data

The full dataset — including EEG, EOG, IMU, and video recordings from 10 sessions — is publicly available on figshare:

Access the LiveWire dataset on figshare