Your brain on ART:

Your Brain on ART
German neurologists at the University Hospital Erlangen have been studying the brain on art.
According to a recent experiment, while painters have their ups and downs, it’s not painkillers
they’re releasing. Instead, artists are engaged in the refinement of grey matter — building
connections between regions of the brain for higher, more integrated functioning. In the
study, 28 men and women took a “resilience scale measurement” psychology test, agreeing or
disagreeing with statements like, “I can usually find something to laugh about,” and had their
brains scanned. Then, once-a- week for ten weeks, they either learned to paint or attended an
art appreciation class where they analyzed and discussed artwork with an historian. After the
ten-week period, participants retook the resilience test and had their brains rescanned.

Researchers noticed that the painters saw raised levels of brain function connectivity and a
considerable bump in psychological resilience, while the appreciation group remained
unchanged. The painters’ brain improvement was pinpointed to within their default mode
networks — an area responsible for introspection, self-monitoring and memory.
Scientists ‘read dreams’ using brain scans. Rebecca Morelle,
Perhaps you already knew this. Art-making demands our experiences and observations be
processed in inventive, abstract ways, with focus and emotional alertness — or as the
researchers concluded, painting requires “enhanced memory processing, which is indeed
required when stored knowledge is connected with new information to create creative
works.” Squeeze out. You’re only a painting away from a better brain.
Esoterica: Because with age the default mode network begins to decline, the neuroscientists
at University Hospital Erlangen studied the brains of older people. Their test subjects were
men and women aged 62-70 — each retired for a minimum of 3 months and no more than 3
years. A significant improvement was found in the visual art production group. “Our results
have important implications for preventative and therapeutic interventions,” say Bolwerk and
Maihofner. The verdict is in: Picking up a brush at any age can strengthen brain connectivity
and build confidence and emotional resilience. “Art is a guaranty of sanity. That is the most
important thing I have said.” (Louise Bourgeois)