Neuroaesthetics: How Art Can Improve and Extend Your Life | Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen
Ivy Ross, VP of Design for Hardware at Google, and Susan Magsamen, Director of the International Arts and Mind Lab, discuss their book "Your Brain on Art." They explore neuroaesthetics, revealing how broadly defined arts, from humming to gardening, measurably transform the body, brain, and behavior, fostering happiness and well-being.
Deep Dive Analysis
14 Topic Outline
Broadening the Definition of Art and Its Benefits
Distinguishing Makers from Beholders of Art
Art's Deep Roots in Evolutionary DNA
How Art Strengthens Relationships and Connectivity
The Four Attributes of an Aesthetic Mindset
Counteracting Productivity Culture with Art and Play
Art as a Powerful Form of Meditation
Scientific Evidence for Art's Brain and Body Benefits
Emergence of Neuroarts and Neuroaesthetics Fields
Food as an Art Form and Cultural Reinforcer
Simple Strategies for Daily Art Integration
Technology's Role in Art and Immersive Experiences
Architecture and Space Design as Art Forms
Art's Contribution to Human Flourishing
8 Key Concepts
Broad Definition of Art
The authors define art very broadly, interchangeably with beauty, encompassing not only traditional forms like museums, music, and dance, but also everyday activities like gardening, humming in the shower, food, and being in nature. This inclusive definition emphasizes creative self-expression.
Makers and Beholders
This concept distinguishes between those who create art ('makers') and those who experience or appreciate it ('beholders'). Both roles offer distinct benefits, with beholding allowing for perspective-taking and empathy, and making providing freedom of self-expression without judgment.
Evolutionary DNA of Art
Humans, like termites, ants, and bees, are 'eusocial,' meaning highly social and needing each other to survive. From the beginning of humanity, creative expression through dancing, singing, storytelling, and creating safe spaces was fundamental for connection and survival, making art an inherent part of our biology.
Neuroplasticity and Art
The brain's ability to form new neural pathways and prune old ones is significantly influenced by arts and aesthetic experiences. These sensory inputs offer salient material for creating strong, interconnected neural pathways, impacting how we think, feel, move, and connect physiological systems.
Aesthetic Mindset
This framework describes a way of engaging with the world through art and aesthetics. It comprises four key attributes: curiosity (beginner's mind), playful exploration (without outcome or judgment), sensorial stimulation (awareness of all senses), and moving fluidly between being a maker and a beholder.
Neuroaesthetics
This is the scientific field that studies how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the body, brain, and behaviors. It investigates the neurobiological underpinnings of how art impacts emotional learning, executive function, and even brain structure.
Neuroarts
An emerging field that expands upon neuroaesthetic research, applying its findings to various outcomes in physical health, mental health, learning, and flourishing. It involves translating research into practice, often through interdisciplinary teams, to solve complex problems.
Embodied Cognition
This concept suggests that our physical body and sensory experiences play a crucial role in our cognitive processes and understanding of the world. The Milan Design Fair experiment demonstrated a disconnect between what the cognitive mind 'liked' and what the body 'felt' at ease with, highlighting the body's constant feeling and sensing.
9 Questions Answered
The authors define art very broadly, interchangeably with beauty, to include not only traditional forms like painting and music but also everyday activities such as gardening, humming in the shower, cooking, and experiencing nature.
No, the benefits of art are not dependent on skill or proficiency; both 'makers' and 'beholders' can benefit, and the act of creative expression without judgment is key.
Humans are 'eusocial' beings, meaning highly social and interdependent, and from the earliest times, creative expressions like dancing, singing, and storytelling were fundamental for communication, connection, and survival, making art integral to our DNA.
Yes, solitary experiences like watching television or playing video games can be beneficial by providing immersion, introspection, and distraction, but a diverse 'aesthetic diet' including community-based or active making experiences is recommended for broader benefits.
Engaging in art, especially through playful exploration without preconceived expectations or judgment, helps create new neural pathways, combats the 'outcome-driven' mindset, and can even be a powerful form of meditation, ultimately leading to greater creativity and relaxation.
Arts and aesthetic experiences alter complex physiological networks, including neuronal, psychological, immune, endocrine, circulatory, and respiratory systems, leading to improved emotional learning, increased synapses, and even changes in brain structure and mass.
Food is considered a fundamental art form essential for survival, reinforcing culture, and building community. The act of cooking involves agency and creative expression, and eating together fosters agreeableness and collaboration.
Simple ways include being more intentional and present with sensory experiences like smelling coffee, feeling warm water in the shower, humming, or noticing colors and textures. Reconnecting with childhood creative activities like drawing, coloring, or playing music without judgment is also highly beneficial.
Architecture and space design are considered art forms that profoundly affect how we think and feel. Designing spaces with neuroaesthetic principles in mind, considering elements like light, windows, and curves, can improve mental health and overall well-being.
52 Actionable Insights
1. Daily Art for Well-being
Incorporate at least 20 minutes of art engagement (making or beholding) into your daily routine, as it offers benefits comparable to exercise and mindfulness.
2. Monthly Art for Longevity
Engage in at least one art experience per month, as research suggests this can extend your life by 10 years.
3. Reduce Stress with Art
Dedicate 45 minutes to working on an art project to effectively reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
4. Daily Nature Exposure
Spend at least 15 minutes in nature daily to lower cortisol, achieve homeostasis, clear your mind, and gain clarity and insight.
5. Art Without Judgment
Participate in artistic activities without the pressure of needing to be “good” or professional, as the benefits derive from the act of engagement itself, not the outcome.
6. Prioritize Playful Art
Actively prioritize playing with different art forms without preconceived expectations, as this is essential to counteract the societal emphasis on productivity and prevent depression.
7. Art as Meditation
Engage in artistic activities as a form of meditation, allowing you to shift out of your cognitive mind and focus entirely on the creative process, such as observing watercolor drips or shaping clay.
8. Embrace Flow for Creativity
Allow yourself to enter flow states and engage in seemingly distracted activities like doodling, as these practices can lead to increased creativity, relaxation, and innovation.
9. Make Art for Self-Expression
Engage in making art as an act of freedom and self-expression, fostering introspection and providing an opportunity to authentically share yourself with the world.
10. Behold Art for Empathy
Actively engage with art as a beholder to practice perspective-taking, allowing you to explore different emotional ranges and ideas without personal risk, thereby enhancing empathy.
11. Daily Art for Trauma Release
Incorporate a little bit of art into your daily routine to time-release micro-traumas, preventing their accumulation and mitigating the risk of emotional overload or depression.
12. Integrate Everyday Arts
Integrate simple artistic expressions into your daily routine, such as humming in the shower or gardening, to leverage everyday moments for well-being.
13. Mindful Sensory Engagement
Apply mindfulness to your daily sensory experiences, such as the sensation of walking, being in nature, or feeling the air on your skin, to tune into the broadly defined arts and their benefits.
14. Practice Radical Presence
Cultivate radical presence by intentionally noticing colors, smells, and other sensory details in your surroundings, as this practice provides an effective “art or aesthetics dosage” for your well-being.
15. Connect with Body’s Feelings
Actively connect with and acknowledge your body’s constant sensory input and feelings, rather than solely relying on your cognitive mind, to gain agency over your well-being and surroundings.
16. Be Intentional Daily
Cultivate intentionality in your existing daily activities rather than adding more tasks, transforming routine actions into opportunities for aesthetic engagement and well-being.
17. Morning Sensory Awareness
During your morning routine, such as making coffee or tea, intentionally tune into the sensorial experiences like light, temperature, and smell, recognizing that smell profoundly influences emotions.
18. Hum or Sing in Shower
Hum or sing while showering to engage your vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and well-being.
19. Doodle for Better Focus
Doodle during business meetings to enhance your attentiveness, improve your ability to retain information, and facilitate better recall.
20. Simple Visual Arts for Insight
Engage in simple visual arts like drawing mandalas, collaging, coloring, or even stick figures, as these activities help you tap into your psyche, understand your feelings, and immediately lower anxiety levels.
21. Engage in Tactile Arts
Engage your hands with tactile materials like clay, yarn, or soil, as this stimulates your skin and nerve endings, igniting internal sensory receptors that enhance attentiveness and focus.
22. Read Poetry
Read poetry, as this activity lights up brain regions similar to those activated by music and stimulates the brain’s primary reward circuitry.
23. Experiment with Art Forms
Experiment with various art forms such as coloring, listening to music, working with clay, or painting, ensuring you approach these activities without judgment to transform them into pure play and fun.
24. Diversify Art Experiences
Engage in a wide variety of artistic experiences, akin to cross-training, to stimulate different neural pathways, create new connections, and prune existing ones, enhancing neuroplasticity.
25. Seek Novel Experiences
Actively seek out and engage in new experiences to continuously foster neuroplasticity, which helps your brain form new synaptic connections and prune old ones, making room for growth.
26. Reconnect with Childhood Art
If you’re unsure where to begin your artistic journey, reflect on and reconnect with aesthetic arts experiences that resonated with you as a child, using them as a starting point.
27. Act Without Agenda
Dedicate time to activities purely for enjoyment, without any agenda or productivity goals, to cultivate genuine pleasure and a break from outcome-driven thinking.
28. Practice Improvisational Art
Engage in improvisational artistic activities, such as jazz or drumming, as this practice can shut down the brain’s perfection-seeking regions, facilitating flow states and enhanced creativity.
29. Weekly Art Date Night
Institute a weekly art-focused date night with a partner or friends, experimenting with activities like theater, painting, or other creative endeavors to foster connection and shared enjoyment.
30. 100 Days of Art Challenge
Challenge yourself to engage in an hour of art daily for 100 days, experimenting with various forms without judgment, to cultivate a consistent and enjoyable artistic practice.
31. Cultivate Flourishing Attributes
Actively cultivate attributes associated with flourishing, such as curiosity, wonder, awe, creativity, novelty, surprise, and ritual, to move beyond merely coping and truly thrive as a human.
32. Mindful Space Design
Be intentional about designing or choosing your physical spaces, prioritizing elements that positively influence how you think and feel, rather than solely focusing on efficiency.
33. Seek Immersive Art
Seek out and engage with immersive art experiences, such as walking into a painting or multi-sensory exhibits, as these experiences amplify your sensorial perception and compel you to move beyond your cognitive mind.
34. Immersive Art for New Perspectives
Engage in immersive art experiences to stimulate brain regions similar to those activated by psychedelics, thereby gaining a fresh and different perspective on life.
35. Amplify Sensory Systems
Actively work to amplify your human sensory systems and capacity for creative expression, recognizing that these abilities will become increasingly vital as technology further integrates into daily life.
36. Recognize Food as Art
Recognize food as an art form fundamental to survival, identity, and culture, and prioritize eating together, as this practice fosters agreeableness and collaboration.
37. Cook as an Art Form
Approach cooking as an art form, recognizing your agency in creating and combining ingredients, similar to making a painting, and also value the act of eating together.
38. Eat Mindfully
Practice mindful eating, fully tuning into the taste, texture, and smell of your food, as this enhances the experience and provides an aesthetic dosage.
39. Dance and Cook Together
Engage in regular activities like dancing (e.g., weekly) and making meals together, focusing on the sensory aspects of cooking, to foster fun, laughter, and connection.
40. Appreciate Scents
Intentionally pay attention to scents around you, recognizing their powerful ability to evoke emotions and memories.
41. Cultivate Aesthetic Curiosity
Approach experiences with curiosity and a beginner’s mind, being open to new things and wondering about the world, as this is a fundamental aspect of an aesthetic mindset.
42. Embrace Playful Exploration
Practice playful exploration by engaging in activities without an intended outcome, judgment, or criticism, which is crucial for fostering an aesthetic mindset.
43. Heighten Sensory Awareness
Actively engage in sensorial stimulation and cultivate awareness of all your senses, as this deepens your connection to your surroundings and is part of an aesthetic mindset.
44. Alternate Making and Beholding
Regularly switch between being a maker of art and a beholder of art, as this dynamic engagement is integral to a comprehensive aesthetic mindset.
45. Practice Self-Compassion
Cultivate a lack of judgment towards yourself and open up space for artistic exploration, as self-compassion makes it easier to engage without feeling shamed or inadequate.
46. Practice Less Dismissiveness
Actively work on being less dismissive to foster an open mind, as this can lead to discovering valuable new perspectives and benefits.
47. Avoid Frantic Rushing
Consciously work to avoid rushing frantically through your day and ticking off to-do list items, as this can hinder your ability to tune into beneficial experiences.
48. Sing/Hum for PPD
For mothers experiencing postpartum depression, engage in singing and humming, as these activities have been shown to improve mood and overall well-being.
49. Drumming/Dance for Parkinson’s
For Parkinson’s patients, engage in drumming, other musical instruments, or dance, as these activities are incredibly helpful in minimizing symptoms related to gait, motor movement, cognition, sleep, and mood, with increased benefits from consistent practice.
50. Explore 40Hz Sound/Light Therapy
For individuals with dementia or Alzheimer’s, explore therapies utilizing 40 hertz sound combined with light, as this sequence has shown amazing results in potentially cleaning brain plaque.
51. Advocate for Art Prescriptions
Advocate for or implement the prescribing of arts (e.g., museum visits, dance) by healthcare professionals, as other countries are successfully using this approach for cognition, stroke recovery, and other health benefits.
52. Adopt Neuroaesthetic Design
For those involved in creating spaces, adopt a neuroaesthetic perspective in designing environments like schools and public housing, as conscious design profoundly impacts individual and community well-being.
7 Key Quotes
We think we're thinking beings that feel, but we're actually feeling beings that think.
Jill Bolte-Taylor (quoted by Ivy Ross)
The opposite of play, people think is work and it's not, it's depression. Because your brain needs to do things where there's no preconceived expectation.
Ivy Ross
Good or bad isn't part of the conversation. It's not the paradigm. It's really what is it that you're trying to express and what's the best form for you that allows you to do that.
Susan Magsamen
Sharon Salzberg, who is big in the meditation movement, we interviewed her... And she says that art is the best form of meditation.
Ivy Ross
Art creates culture, culture creates community, and community creates humanity.
Susan Magsamen
You change the space and you change the way you think and you change the way you feel.
Ivy Ross
We are standing on the verge of a cultural shift where the arts are delivering potent, accessible, and proven health and well-being solutions to billions of people.
Susan Magsamen
2 Protocols
Aesthetic Mindset Framework
Susan Magsamen- Cultivate curiosity: Bring yourself into a beginner's mind, open to new experiences and wondering about things.
- Engage in playful exploration: Do things without an intended outcome, judgment, or criticism.
- Seek sensorial stimulation: Be really aware of all your senses around you.
- Move between making and beholding: Fluidly engage in both creating art and experiencing art.
Daily Art Integration
Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross- Appreciate existing sensory experiences: Be intentional about noticing the smell of coffee, the feel of warm water in the shower, or the sounds around you.
- Hum or sing: Engage your vagus nerve by humming or singing in the shower or car.
- Garden or take walks mindfully: Engage with nature, even in a city, by noticing trees, architecture, and the air.
- Doodle, color, or collage: Engage in simple creative acts without judgment, even during meetings.
- Reconnect with past art forms: Pick up an art form you enjoyed as a child or adult but stopped doing.
- Create an 'Art Date Night': Intentionally carve out time to experiment with different art forms with others, like going to the theater or trying watercolor painting.