See Video »

The Cincinnati Ballet is practicing for a special Mother's Day performance this weekend. But it's what they're doing during practice that has peaked the interest of brain specialists at U.C.'s Neuroscience Institute.

Local 12 Medical Reporter Liz Bonis explains why in today's Medical Edge.
 
With any performance just days away, these dancers know...

Victoria Morgan, Cincinnati Ballet Artistic Director: "You have to have a certain amount of creativity to put your body into the techniques."

You also apparently have to have a few powerful brain chemicals, one of which is called dopamine.

Dr. Alberto Espay, UC Neuroscience Institute: "When we have less dopamine, we have less gasoline in the motor, sort of like less lubrication, so one would have more stiffness and have difficulty with walking, posture and balance."

Neurologists Alberto Espay says, since these symptoms accompany the neurological disorder, known as parkinson's disease, he now prescribes certain types of dance for patients as part of therapy for the brain. But what's so amazing about this, experts say, is that it appears that there are two things that make the biggest difference in working with the brain, some of it's movement itself that enhances coordination and balance, and helps with confidence, but sometimes it's actually the music, which perhaps sort of signals the brain.
 
"The music itself, if it has a specific rhythm, helps parkinsons patients provide an alternative pathway for the motor function, to carry it out in other words."

Espay doesn't promise patients an elegant final performance, but just as this team will tell you, with practice, anything's possible.
 
You can check out the Cincinnati Ballet's Greatest Hits performance this weekend at the Aronoff Center.