Does dancing, listening to music, or journaling help my brain?
Research on the brain shows creative activities like writing, painting, music, and dancing engage multiple brain areas, including the prefrontal cortex, limbic regions, and more. Creativity isn’t confined to one region, it involves networks related to emotion, decision, and sensory processing. Studies such as the “English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and HUNT Study in Norway found that people regularly participating in creative or cultural activities had a lower mortality risk.
In fact, one study suggests that arts engagement may slow biological aging by about 4%, similar to the effect of physical activity! Attendees will be excited to learn how what they are already doing is helping their brains to age well…and be inspired to incorporate the arts, however known, into their lives in new ways!
The attendees will discover:
• How creative hobbies promote cognitive flexibility, reserve, and resilience.
• Only dance was associated with a significantly reduced risk of dementia, reducing the risk by about 76%, twice as much as reading! (A study in the New England Journal of Medicine)
• How listening to music, writing, and attending theater helps maintain mental agility in older adults!
• Journaling, writing poetry, or actual handwriting supports cognitive health, memory consolidation and improve mental health!
• Painting and other artistic activities can stimulate the brain, reduce stress, and improve cognitive function
• Research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that visiting museums and galleries is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia.