NEPA – Neuroscience of Performative Arts International Seminar

15-17 December 2026 | UNATC CINETic (#3-b Tudor Arghezi Street)

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OPEN CALL

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The LDCAPEI Lab at UNATC CINETic is organizing the second NEPA – Neuroscience of Performative Arts International Seminar on 15-17 December 2026.

The seminar aims to foster collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and best practices among performing arts practitioners, neuroscience researchers, psychologists, and art therapists working in the fields of performing arts and film therapy. It seeks to promote interdisciplinary research that advances understanding of the processes underlying performative representations and the mechanisms through which the performing arts contribute to health, well-being, and social development.

Over the past decades, there has been growing interest in applying neuroscience and biopsychological methods to deepen our understanding of artistic creation, practice, and participation. Researchers have increasingly sought to uncover the biological substrate underlying complex artistic processes. In response to this development, NEPA aims to facilitate the exchange of practices and promote the formation and expansion of interdisciplinary collaborative research teams, fostering innovative research at the intersection of the arts, neuroscience, and psychology.

Understanding core processes at the basis of performative representation at biophysiological levels will increase the contribution of performative practices and the efficacity of current approaches of theatre, dance and music to health and therapy, more efficient teaching practices and artistic practices and to the understanding of their contribution to the development of the human society.

Understanding the core processes underlying performative representation at the biophysiological level will strengthen the contribution of the performing arts to health, well-being, and therapeutic interventions. It will also support the development of more effective approaches to theatre, dance, and music education and artistic practice, while enhancing our understanding of the role that the performing arts play in the development of society as a whole.

We welcome contributions presenting original research related to the conference themes, particularly studies employing neuroscience, psychology, biopsychology, or other interdisciplinary approaches. The primary presentation format consists of a 10-minute oral presentation followed by a Q&A session. Contributions are to be presented on site.

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THEMES

1. Biological and neural substrates of role-play and participation in fictional worlds
2. Art as social cognition
3. Art practices from phylogenetic perspectives
4. Synchrony
5. Enactive participation and embodiment
6. Mechanisms of art practice contributing to health
7. Art contribution to quality of life
8. Art at molecular level
9. Methods: how to quantify the unquantifiable, how to adapt lab methods for performance, rehearsal and other spaces of art practice

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CALENDAR

• Open call launched: 6 July 2026
• Deadline for submitting proposals: 15 November 2026
• Seminar dates: 15-17 December 2026

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BACKGROUND

Starting  with the project MET Developing a Methodology of Therapy Through Theatre with an Effect at the Neurochemical and Neurocognitive Levels UNATC has focused  an important part of its research on some of the key aspects at the basis of theatre practice such as imitation, synchrony, autobiographical memory and role-play and, more recently, presence. Using the perspective of social neuroscience towards art practice brought fascinating data and results for theatre practice and its use in applied settings.

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KEY FINDINGS

Some of the key findings on LDCAPEI lab can be found in the selected publications below:

1. Berceanu, A. I., Papasteri, C., Sofonea, A., Boldasu, R., Nita, D., Poalelungi, C., Froemke, R., & Carcea, I. (2024). Oxytocin predicts positive affect gains in a role-play interaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 15:1258254. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1258254
2. Tomescu, M. I., Papasteri, C., Sofonea, A., Berceanu, A. I., & Carcea, I. (2023). Personality moderates intra-individual variability in EEG microstates and spontaneous thoughts. Brain Topography, 37(4), 524–535. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-023-01019-x
3. Berceanu, A. I., Papasteri, C. C., Sofonea, A., Boldasu, R., Nita, D., Poalelungi, C., & Carcea, I. (2022). Role-play regulates positive emotions and prosocial attitudes [Preprint]. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/r6cpn
4. Tomescu, M. I., Papasteri, C. C., Sofonea, A., Boldasu, R., Kebets, V., Pistol, C. A. D., Poalelungi, C., Benescu, V., Podina, I. R., Nedelcea, C. I., Berceanu, A. I., & Carcea, I. (2022). Spontaneous thought and microstate activity modulation by social imitation. NeuroImage. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.118878
5. Cîrneci, D., Onu, M., Papasteri, C. C., Georgescu, D., Poalelungi, C., Sofonea, A., Pușcașu, N., Tanase, D., Rădeanu, T., Toader, M., Dogaru, A. L., Podina, I. R., Berceanu, A. I., & Carcea, I. (2022). Neural networks implicated in autobiographical memory training. eNeuro, 9(6), ENEURO.0137-22.2022. https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0137-22.2022
6. Berceanu, A. I., Matu, S., & Macavei, B. I. (2020). Emotional and cognitive responses to theatrical representations of aggressive behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 11:1785. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01785
7. Papasteri, C. C., Sofonea, A., Boldasu, R., Poalelungi, C., Tomescu, M. I., Pistol, C. A. D., Vasilescu, R. I., Nedelcea, C., Podina, I. R., Berceanu, A. I., Froemke, R. C., & Carcea, I. (2020). Social feedback during sensorimotor synchronization changes salivary oxytocin and behavioral states. Frontiers in Psychology, 11:531046. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.531046

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