Have you ever noticed how soothing and enjoyable it is to paint an artwork? Did you notice that after you left an art class in school, you were calmer and happier than when you entered? We all know that art makes us happy, but why is that?
Art and the brain have a dynamic interaction that has a greater positive impact on our lives than we know. Art can help us become more compassionate, better problem solvers, and more accepting of ourselves.
For years, school districts around the country have prioritized helping struggling pupils to pass reading and math assessments. However, a growing corpus of brain research suggests that teaching the arts to students of all professions may be beneficial.
Scientists are also investigating if pupils who study music or drawing in an arts high school have brains that allow them to focus more intensively or perform better in the classroom.
Scientists and educators are beginning to discuss their findings as they become more aware of the gap between basic research and school systems.
In recent years, brain research has begun to unearth some shocking concepts about how pupils learn. The first confirmation came a few years ago, demonstrating that our brains do not lose brain cells as we age, but are always capable of expanding.
Now, neuroscientists are looking at how arts education might alter the shape of pupils’ brains and the way they think. They want to know if giving an elementary school pupil a violin can help him do better in math. Will a child’s spatial ability or ability to learn to read increase if they learn to dance or paint?
“Research already demonstrates that getting training in the arts, or performing an art, enhances portions of a person’s brain,” says NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow. The ABCD Study will provide answers to a variety of topics, including: Does practicing or playing music during adolescence affect a person’s grades? “Does art, such as sketching or theatre, have a positive impact on one’s well-being?”
Aptitude exams and brain scans are being used by ABCD Study researchers to determine how varied influences affect young people’s brain development and overall health.
Beginning with the Arts.
Some of the contributors to ChildArt discuss how making art as a child had a significant impact on their adult lives. Craig Alan, a painter who loved to sketch with crayons as a child (on his parents’ walls! ), was stressed out in college trying to balance classwork, soccer, and social life. He enrolled in a pottery class to help him better his grades, and he says it “ended up transforming my whole view on learning.” It also paved the way for him to become a successful artist.
Dr. John Iversen is a scientist and percussionist at the University of California, San Diego. “My own drumming experience has undoubtedly influenced many of the scientific concerns I’m enthusiastic about, such as how the brain perceives and generates rhythms, and how this relates to language and attention skills,” he says in an interview with ChildArt. Drs. Iversen and Brown are delving into the ABCD Study data to see if there are any links between early musical experiences and teen health and development.
When Science and Art converge
The ChildArt issue also demonstrates how early artistic experiences can have an impact on professions in science and health care, as well as how art can help us cope with stress.
Dr. Hina Inam, the first female heart surgery resident at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, says her passion of drawing as a child—and her attendance at the International Child Art Foundation’s (ICAF) World Children’s Festival in 1999—”plays a vital role in who I am now.” “Art has… taught me patience, focused me, and made me passionate,” she says. All of these characteristics have also aided me in my professional development. My canvas is now the human heart, and my colors are sutures.”
The Artistic Encounter
Some of the young people who take part in the ABCD Study recount their artistic experiences in ChildArt. “Art soothes me; it helps me take my mind off things and allows me to re-center myself… this allows me to enjoy everything I see around me much more profoundly,” Emma C. says when asked how art has helped her through the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is a form of expression and escape from negativity,” says Kamila D., “… art simply helps me feel better and precise about the way I observe my environment.”
The National Institutes of Health, ICAF, and the National Endowment for the Arts collaborated on the Fall 2020 issue of ChildArt magazine. The issue also includes artwork created by participants in the ABCD Study.
Music and the brain have gotten a lot of attention in the field of arts study. One study of pupils who attend an arts high school discovered a link between their musical training and their ability to do math. Another four-year study, led by Ellen Winner of Boston College and Gottfried Schlaug of Harvard, is investigating the impact of playing the piano or violin on elementary school kids.
Winner was suspicious of assertions that arts-integrated schools saw improved test results and a more positive school climate. She had previously investigated those assertions and discovered that they were unsupported by research.
She is, however, in the middle of a four-year research of elementary pupils, which has yielded some results: one group is learning an instrument, while the other is not. Schlaug remarked, “This is the first study to show brain plasticity in early toddlers associated to music playing.”
Children who receive a tiny amount of instruction – as little as half an hour of courses per week and 10 minutes of practice per day – have anatomical changes in their brains that can be tested, according to the study Winner is working on. And those pupils, according to Winner, performed higher on exams requiring dexterity with their fingers.
Students who played the instrument were not better in arithmetic or reading 15 months after the study began, though the researchers are questioning whether they have measures that are sensitive enough to measure the changes. They want to continue the research for a few more years.
According to Michael Posner, a researcher at the University of Oregon, the majority of current study is focusing on brain networks that are involved in certain tasks. Music’s impact on attention have been investigated by Posner. What he discovered, he claimed, was that arts training helped pupils with motivation and creativity increase their attention and intelligence. The next big effort in this field, he said, will be demonstrating the link between music study and arithmetic aptitude, which most scientists believe exists.
Scientists can now observe the differences in the brain networks of those who study a string instrument and those who study the piano intensively thanks to advances in imaging technology.
Despite the lack of studies, Harvard’s Kagan claims that there is abundant proof of the value of an arts education because so many students who are not strong at academics can find confidence through the arts.
“The case for arts education is founded on pragmatism, not emotion,” he stated. “The dropout rate would decline if an arts program only helped the 7 million children in the poorest quartile.”
Many of us associate art with what we did as children and what we might see in a gallery once every ten years. However, numerous studies have demonstrated that the connection between art and the brain is a powerful one that can change your life. You don’t have to be Michelangelo to get the benefits; all you need is a crayon and some paper.
Significant Impacts of Art on Life
1. Stress Reduction
One of the most obvious art effects is a decrease in stress levels. Whether you are painting large-scale oil paintings or coloring adult coloring books, you’ve surely found that you become distracted from time to time. Everything else fades away, and all you can think about is the piece of art you are doing.
Mindfulness is the state of being completely immersed in the present moment, without thinking about the past, future, or anything else. Meditation, yoga, and, of course, art therapy all have this as a main advantage. Even if it is only for a few minutes a day, taking a break from lugging around all of your problems might help you process emotions and reduce stress.
2. Encourage the use of Imagination
Engaging with art fosters creative thinking, which should come as no surprise. Creativity is a skill like any other, and the more you use it, the better you get at it. Art is a fantastic method to practice being creative in a low-pressure environment.
When it comes to coming up with a creative solution to a problem at work, you are under a lot of pressure. When coloring or drawing, though, there is no danger in picking an uncommon color for something. Having the practice of being creative when there is no pressure to make the best decision can help you think more creatively when the stakes are high.
3. Boost Your Self-Confidence
It may seem counterintuitive to believe that sketching a picture will improve your self-esteem. After all, what effect may art have on your feelings about your success, appearance, or achievements?
But, at the end of the day, when you make art, you have succeeded. Dopamine is released as a result of your success, which improves your sense of accomplishment. And the more you practice, the better you will get, which can help you see yourself as talented, which is another key step on the path to self-love.
4. Increase the Plasticity of the Brain
The ability of your brain to grow and change through time is known as brain plasticity. This can aid in the acquisition of new skills, the retention of mental flexibility into old age, and the maintenance of a high IQ. It should come as no surprise that creating art on a daily basis might boost your brain plasticity, given the level of creative thinking it necessitates.
Consider your mind as a glob of silly putty (a great image, we know). The more you stretch and mold that silly putty, the more flexible it will remain; however, if you leave it out too long, it will become rigid and brittle. The same is true for your brain: the more you engage it in new creative endeavors, the more flexible it will be.
Because each piece of art is unique, creating art on a daily basis might help your brain develop a habit of trying new things, keeping it limber.
5. Improve Your Academic Performance
Children who make art as a child become better students later in life. Art and music therapy programs appear to offer similar effects for brain development, particularly in children. Students that participate in these creative activities profit for the rest of their lives.
Art-making kids are less impulsive, more well-behaved, and more attentive. They have better IQs and test scores than children who do not participate in creative activities. Given the huge benefits that creative programs may provide.
6. Increase Empathy
Increased empathy is another benefit of art. Surprisingly, this benefit can come from either creating or viewing art. This is due to the release of dopamine in your brain when you gaze at art, as well as the human reaction to seeing a face.
In the simplest words, looking at art is like to falling in love. You’re staring into this face as your brain releases happy chemicals. This pleasant interaction with other “people,” even if they are painted, might help you feel more connected to the real people in your life.
7. Boost your Health
Art may help you with your emotional and physical health in a number of ways. On the physical level, lowering stress levels can help to prevent a variety of health problems. It can also aid in the reduction of discomfort, particularly in chronically unwell people.
Aside from the ones we’ve already addressed, art can give a variety of mental health benefits. Dementia patients who create art are happier, more social, and less depressed, according to studies. Art can also aid with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health issues.