Prof. Joseph F.X. DeSouza
I am an Associate Professor in the Graduate Programs of Psychology, Biology, and the Neuroscience Graduate Diploma Program in the Department of Psychology at York University.
My specific research interests lie within the realms of converting multisensory signals of vision, audition and touch into motor movements of the eyes, hands & body and how these mechanisms are modulated by various mechanisms of short- and long-term cognitive control, attention and suppression. I use cognitive and systems neuroscience approaches, utilizing the technologies of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), eyetracking and electrophysiology.
Defining the effects of dance on the brain is one of the JoeLab's current foci. We are studying learning in expert dancers and people with Parkinson's Disease, as well as the therapeutic effects of dance for the latter group.
World Parkinson
Congress
20.09.2016-23.09.2016
Portland, Oregon
European Association Dance Movement Therapy Conference
09.09.2016-11.09.2016
Milano, Italy
UPCOMING EVENTS
Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
12.11.2016-16.11.2016
San Diego, California
MY LATEST RESEARCH
The JoeLab team is working with Canada's National Ballet School and the Dancing with Parkinson's program to study the neurological effects of weekly dance classes for people with PD. The video above is a short documentary by Synapse Dance showcasing the program, the dancers, and our research.
Our most recent fMRI studies indicate that the supplementary motor area (SMA) is more active in expert dancers visualizing learned choreography to music, compared to control dancers naive to the music. It was also found that activity in the SMA decreases over the 34-week rehearsal period, suggesting motor network connectivity is changing with learning.