NeuroArts

NeuroArts is the transdisciplinary and extradisciplinary study of how the arts measurably change the body, brain, and behavior. This study results in knowledge and scientific discovery that is translated into specific practices that improve and advance our health and well-being. The practice of transdisciplinary and extradisciplinary are academic ways of describing and incorporating best practices, ideas, concepts, and ways of thinking from a variety of disciplines and experts to study and demonstrate the tangible impact the arts have on our health and well-being.

We’re bringing together interdisciplinary researchers, educators, scientists, artists, community organizations, corporate partners, and foundations to explore how the arts can help grow a child’s developing brain; repair the degenerating brain; strengthen the productivity of our workforce; prevent and manage disease; and improve our mental and physical health.

Through our coalition, we aim to raise awareness about this emerging field; build lasting partnerships; sustain funding; advance research; and inform policy.

The NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative is a partnership between the Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics and the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program. Co-directed by Susan Magsamen, MAS, and Ruth J. Katz, JD, MPH, the Initiative bridges the gap between the arts and sciences to advance health and well-being by promoting innovative research, developing evidence-based practices, and raising public awareness of the arts’ potential to enhance health. The Initiative’s long-term goals are to:

Cultivate an ecosystem for NeuroArts, defined as the transdisciplinary and extradisciplinary study of how the arts measurably change the body, brain, and behavior, and how this knowledge is translated into specific practices that advance health and well-being.

Drive a paradigm shift to fully integrate the arts into activities that will advance individual and collective health and to have the arts recognized and integrated as a core part of mainstream medicine and public health.

Strengthen, standardize, and propel the emerging field of NeuroArts to become a fully recognized field of research and practice.

The NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative establishes Community NeuroArts Coalitions at local and regional levels across the U.S. to harness the transformative power of the arts, grounded in neuroscience, to advance health and well-being. They develop sustainable, community-led solutions that are locally relevant and create meaningful impact.

Their work is done by bringing together interdisciplinary and cross-sector teams including experts in health, art, research, and education and partnering with community-based practitioners and organizations. In Georgia, the Arts + Health Laboratory is a collaborative coalition of universities, healthcare institutions, nonprofit and arts organizations, and research partners to study and field active research on the impact of the arts on our health and well-being.

The National Library of Medicine defines neuroscience as “the study of the physiological, cellular, molecular and genetic processes underlying the function of the brain and nervous system.” Essentially, neuroscience is the study of our body’s “command center”—the system of our brain, brain stem, spinal cord and nerve systems that control our body. Using proven scientific and evidence-based research studies, neuroscience helps us understand how we think, feel and remember things, how our senses work, why we feel certain emotions, how we move and what happens when something goes wrong, such Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, and depression.

There are many documented evidence-based, scientific studies that demonstrate how exposure to and experiencing the arts activate our prefrontal cortex and amygdala, release known stress relievers of dopamine and serotonin, and reduce known stress activators like cortisol, sharpen cognitive function, and positively impact heart rate and blood pressure. Exposure to the arts has also been known to decrease pain levels, slow cognitive decline, and even improve life expectancy.

Yes, it absolutely can! The science of neuroaesthetics is the study of how the brain responds to art, with studies showing that artistic and creative experiences can create measurable changes to your brain’s structure and function through the creation or strengthening of neural pathways. These changes, known as neuroplasticity, can be seen on brain imaging studies, such as fMRI, and have been reported in reputable scientific journals.