Your Brain on Art is a happy marriage of science and art, too long seen as separated, even divorced, domains. Authors Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross convincingly show that making and experiencing art is a full body, full brain necessity for a health-filled, rewarding life, and not optional embellishment to a busy day.

As Magsamen and Ross put it, “the arts and aesthetics change us and, as a result, they can transform our lives.”

Your Brain on Art opens with a layperson-friendly yet comprehensive overview of how we perceived the world through our senses, and then understand those perceptions and make meaning through different regions of the brain on down to the structure of an individual neuron and how it combines with other neurons to create and maintain neural pathways.

“When you experience virtual reality, read poetry or fiction, see a film or listen to a piece of music, or move your body to dance, to name a few of the many arts, you are biologically changed,” write Magsamen and Ross.

This lays the foundation for understanding such core concepts as neuroplasticity (how our brains have evolved to promote lifelong learning), the importance of enriched (novelty-filled) environments, our individual “aesthetic triads” (how our individual physiology combines with cognition and meaning making to form an experience that is at once unique and yet capable of being shared with others), and our personal “default mode network,” our idiosyncratic way of deciphering “what you think is beautiful or not, memorable or not, meaningful or not . . . what makes the arts and aesthetics a very personal experience for each of us . . .”

While written for lay audiences, Your Brain on Art, with its comprehensive bibliography, is unarguably a literature review of studies exploring the impact of the arts on medicine, physical or psychological therapy, architecture, and design, and many more domains. Nonetheless, Your Brain on Art carefully grounds each new topic in interviews with scientists, artists, and lay participants.

This combination of scientific and personal story show how the arts help us heal and flourish as individuals and build stronger communities for all of us. Whether it’s gardening as a force for community building, music as treatment for schizophrenia, art making to restore emotional balance for those experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, singing to reduce post-partum depression and promote mother-infant bonding, there are few if any ways that the arts don’t make us wiser, more resilient people.

“The world, and its beauty, are there waiting for you,” write Magsamen and Ross, a fitting last line in a book proving the science, the joy, and the power of experiencing life enmeshed in the arts.

Ellen

“This book is so revolutionary I fear I won’t have adequate words to describe how important I think it is. As a lifelong artist, performer, arts educator and arts advocate, I didn’t need to be convinced of the connection between brain function and art, but the breadth of the information in this book is astounding. The authors, Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, bring an amazing array of experience and credentials to the table. Ross is Vice President for hardware product area at Google, and Magsamen is founder and director of the International Arts + Mind Lab, Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. They are partners in both doing the research and applying it. Most of us who participate in the arts are aware of the power of the arts to relieve stress, spur creativity and create connections to others, past and present. But Ross and Magsamen take these ideas and go deeper, pointing to verifiable changes in the brain and neural system that affect our health and well-being. Did you know, for example, that certain heart scans reveal patterns reminiscent of quilt squares? Or that singing to a newborn baby releases hormones that calm both baby and mother? The authors make the case that arts of all types create measurable biological changes in the human body, and can be applied as therapies for mental, physical and social disorders and dysfunctions. This book should be required reading for medical professionals and students, mental health professionals, business executives, and even politicians. This work raises the question as to why there is so much opposition to public funding for the arts, and completely obliterates the argument that the arts are just a “frill” or “luxury” in our lives, and makes the case for thorough integration of the arts in all facets of our existence.”

Jax

In this captivating book, Magsamen and Ross tell us that “we are literally changed on a cellular level by aesthetics.” They describe how scientific research has caught up with the way in which art supports health, learning, and our sense of well-being in a field called neuroaesthetics. For me, the most compelling study the authors describe is one that was conducted by a Stanford cardiologist and his acoustic bioengineer colleague. They placed heart cells in a gelled substance and watched as the cells danced, riding “waves across the gel and into extraordinary patterns.” This puts the notion of being moved by music into a more literal realm! It is also one of many reasons the authors will say that “art and science are potent medicine, capable of radically transforming our physical health.” Magsamen and Ross explain the relevant science in a vernacular non-scientists can understand. For example, they describe our brains’ neurons as overlapping branches of a tree. These neurons are social and need connection with others to survive. In the language of the brain, these social connections are called synaptic. The intensity of the sensory input determines how synaptic circuits are wired. Memory-making experiences and sensory rich environments support greater connections. These authors say that the changes aesthetic experiences can make in us will transform our lives. Developing an aesthetic mindset is the first step, and they will give you advice on how to do that.

Victoria

“I believe Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross is going to be a HUGE hit in the nonfiction community! I couldn't put this one down. If you liked or resonated with The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (who is quoted within the book), you'll be absolutely fascinated by this work of art in itself. I truly felt like this book was speaking to me with every turn of the page. As someone who struggles with mental health due to SA and childhood trauma and someone who is currently exploring the arts, this book was a wealth of information and an absolute treat!

I really enjoyed the easy to digest writing style and the way the book is organized into smaller sections. The book presents examples of how "the arts and aesthetics" are utilized to help many individuals cope with traumatic events, daily stressors, mental health, end of life, pain, etc. Recent studies have shown that engaging in the arts has an effect on multiple physiological and neural systems within the human body. Art can help heal the body, mind, and spirit. It was fascinating learning about the different types of art, the programs out there that are offering a type of art therapy, and especially, the ways our brains work when we are actively engaging in these activities.

Overall, it's an incredible read! I highly recommend it if you enjoy reading about art, mental health, healthcare/medicine, and neurology. A new favorite!”

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“A useful guide to the science behind why the arts are fundamental to our physical and emotional health. Magsamen, a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Ross, a vice president of design at Google, introduce readers to an emerging scientific field known as neuroaesthetics, using fascinating case studies to demonstrate how the arts have lasting benefits for our mental and physical health. In fact, approaching everyday life with an “aesthetic mindset” can change our very physiology, literally rewiring our brains. Chronic pain, for example, can be managed by dance, while those who “engage in arts and cultural activities have a lower risk of developing chronic pain as they age.” The authors also show how new parents recovering from postpartum depression feel better faster by the simple act of humming. Perhaps most shockingly, “people who engage in the arts every few months, such as going to the theatre or to a museum, have a 31 percent lower risk of dying early when compared with those who don’t.” Alongside the case studies, Magsamen and Ross present many accessible methods to bring the arts into your life, showing readers how to create a habit of participating in the arts just as you would follow a workout schedule. They analyze a variety of artistic mediums that provide benefits for the brain, including poetry, music, painting, and even doodling. “Art and science together are potent medicine,” they write, “capable of radically transforming our physical health.” From young children to adults with Alzheimer’s, the arts can improve and even extend our lives. This fascinating account of the science behind this phenomenon will inspire readers to establish their own concrete plans to incorporate as much art into their lives as possible. Regularly engaging with the arts can make you live longer, and this absorbing book explains how.”

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