Towards real-time visualization of a juggler’s brain

Abstract

Surpassing the initial ‘wow’ effect of a complex juggling trick and producing long-lasting engaging performances are the main goals of any juggling act. Conveying to the audience the skill and the effort required for a performance is often difficult. In this paper, we use a wearable EEG headset to investigate how juggling skills can be inferred from a juggler’s brain. We observed characteristic brain activity and synchronization while juggling in both an expert and an intermediate juggler. We also found that processing of visuomotor skills and memory retention can be distinguished during motor imagery and simulated juggling conditions. For the first time, we were able to monitor a juggler’s brain in action. We have shown that using EEG while juggling could both improve our understanding of neuronal mechanisms governing visuomotor control and, importantly, represent a potential to enrich artistic performance and increase audience engagement.

Keywords:

• juggling
• motor imagery
• visuomotor coordination
• memory retention
• gamma/theta coupling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.