FEATURES
by M. Kathleen Warren
As both an artist and a scientist, I was intrigued by the title and premise of this book. How exactly does art, in its many forms, affect our brains and lives? The authors, Susan Magasmen and Ivy Ross, state from the beginning pages that “the arts and aesthetics change us, and, as a result, they can transform our lives.” From there, Magasmen, founder of the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins, and Ross, VP of Design at Google, explain how the arts can transform our well-being, our learning, our mental health, and even our physical healing.
Magasmen and Ross begin with an overview of nervous system function that I, as a physiologist who taught for decades, found both informative and readable. Using research findings supported by human stories, the authors lay a foundation for understanding how we are neurologically wired for the arts. In later chapters, they will build on this groundwork of brain and sensory system function.
Chapter by chapter, Magasmen and Ross explain how the various arts—music, poetry, dance, painting, theater, even designing a home—are a fundamental force for human flourishing. Pediatrician Michael Yogman prescribes participation in specific arts for his young patients. This type of social prescribing—museum visits, singing classes, concert tickets—is growing among physicians, psychiatrists, and social workers. Psychiatrist James Gordon uses drawing to help trauma survivors move through and past their fears. Armed service members and their families are making masks to move past PTSD and other traumas. People with Parkinsons Disease are experiencing noticeable gains through specialized dance classes.
Clinicians have seen marked improvement in those with dementia when the clients listen to music from their past. In children given music training early in life, brain studies reveal actual changes in brain structure, including areas associated with decision-making. While making art, neurodivergent people attain increased focus and longer attention spans. Ritual4Return is using on-stage acting to help formerly incarcerated people learn new inner stories about themselves. These chapters are rich with stories of art enriching our lives, all supported by scientific findings.
For the final two chapters, Magasmen and Ross explore the connections that result from participating in the arts and present a vision for the future. As I progressed through the chapters, I found myself experimenting with art expressions that I’d long neglected. Like a child, I sang; I made music on my kalimba; I drew with my left hand; I danced across my living room; I wrote poetry. In all of this, I chose to embrace the viewpoint of the authors that it’s the creating and personal experience itself that is key, not how well I do it. So don’t come to my house asking to read my poetry or to listen to me sing to my dogs or to critique my left-hand scribbles! Come to create and enjoy alongside me, while we both transform our brains. And even if you don’t visit, read and savor this book. Let’s keep the arts alive and enriching our lives one person at a time.
