Genes are Responsible for Learning Dance

A study by the University of Oxford has stated that dancing skills depend on a person's genes. The study found that people who were fast at picking up simple sequence of finger movements showed that they had higher levels of a substance called GABA running in their brain. GABA acts somewhat like a lubricant. It stops the brain cells from overheating and dampening down of activity between them. Scientists used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure GABA levels in the brain of the 12 participants. Using trans-cranial stimulation scientists reduced the levels of GABA in the brain and it was found that reducing GABA by 30% increased the speed of learning by 70%. Dr. Charlotte Stagg said, "There is considerable variability in motor learning behavior across individuals. We aimed to test whether some of this variability could be explained by variation in responsiveness of the GABA system."

Thus it was noted that those who were more responsive to GABA were quicker in learning simple motor tasks. During learning, the brains of such individuals showed greater activation in the motor cortex (it is involved in planning and controlled movements). This study has been published in the journal 'Current Biology'.


Source-Medindia