Health effects of art in the spotlight at neuroscience conference

The annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) conference is currently underway in Chicago. Thousands of neuroscientists have gathered here to discuss the latest topics in neuroscience research. They talk about new ways to understand the brain, ways to help people with neurodegenerative diseases, artificial intelligence and how it can be used to support research. But the conference opened with a presentation about art.

This major annual gathering of neuroscientists has always put art in the spotlight, more so than many other scientific gatherings. Each year, a group of artists are invited to exhibit and sell their neuroscience-themed art at the meeting. But this year the conference also opened with a two-hour session on the neuroscience of art.

In her opening lecture earlier today, Susan Magsamen, director of the International Arts and Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University, highlighted the rapidly growing field of neuroart research. She showed some data from the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, which showed that more and more scientists are now studying the overlap between neuroscience and aesthetics. That’s the field of research that studies how our brains respond to art and other things we like to look at.

Another area of ​​active research is that of music and neuroscience. Former Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins created the Sound Health initiative. This is a collaboration between the NIH and the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) to learn more about the connections between music and health.

Magsamen explained that the importance of art to mental health makes it valuable for research. The more research there is, the clearer the value of art becomes. She listed a number of areas where there is already sufficient evidence for the effect of art on health. For example, the Mark Morris Dance Group has participated in several dozen research papers on the use of dance to support people with Parkinson’s disease. There is also increasing evidence from various research groups that singing helps people with Alzheimer’s disease. And an ongoing initiative called “Creative Forces” uses evidence-based art therapy to help service members and veterans with mental health issues.

After her lecture, Magsamen was joined on stage by SfN president Marina Picciotto. In their discussion, Magsamen said that there is still a lot of research waiting at the intersection of art and science. She mentioned a report by researchers at University College London that identified more than 600 ways in which art can influence health. This also means that there are many new areas where researchers can study the effect of art on health.

“There is still a lot of work to be done,” said Magsamen. That’s why she co-directed the NeuroArts Blueprint with Ruth Katz, which brings together guidelines and tools for researchers working at the intersection of science and art. As Magsamen explained, a lot of research is already happening, but they wanted to create a more centralized community for it. This will also be followed by the launch of a Neuroarts Resource Center in the coming months.

Following the topic of improving mental health through music, the conference session also invited musicians Jonas Friddle, Anna Jacobsen and Andrew Wilkins to the stage. They led the crowd in a joint performance of “You May Leave, but This Will Bring You Back,” originally by Memphis Jug Band. The audience members were each given a kazoo and taught to play some recurring lines so that they could participate in the performance.

The kazoo exercise gave the neuroscientists at the conference the opportunity to experience firsthand the effect of music making on mental health. They all got to keep their kazoos, so that bodes well for the coming days of investigative discussions at the meeting.