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A large international study found that creative activities such as music, dance, painting and certain video games can help keep the brain ‘young.’
Investigators from 13 countries – including teams from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland and SWPS University in Poland – analyzed brain data from seemingly small brain patterns.
Even short bursts of creative activity, like a few weeks of playing strategy-based videos, had tangible benefits, according to a study published in the journal Communication Sciences in October.
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The scientists collected brain data from people with advanced experience in Tango, music, visual arts and playing techniques, but they also used experts. In addition, a third group of beginners are temporarily trained in StarCraft II, so the researchers see how learning a new creative skill affects the brain in just a few weeks.
New research finds that creative activities can help the brain stay younger. (Stock)
All participants beeg and meg brain scans were fed into learning models of “brains”, or brain clocks, which estimate how the brain looks over time. The researchers then used advanced computer models to examine why intelligence does not protect the brain and found that hobbies help strengthen networks involved in interaction, attention, movement and problem solving, which can weaken with age.
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People of artistic age show a strong reduction caused by the brain, but even beginners see an improvement, with strategic games to strengthen the brain marks after 30 hours of training.
“One of our takeaways is that you don’t need to be an expert to be creative,” said Dr. Carlos Coronel, first author and postdoctol Sollow Institute, Trinity College Dubloz, said in a statement. “In fact, we found that students get short bursts of video game training.”
The findings show that intelligence may be as important to brain health as diet and nutrition. (Stock)
According to the researchers, this was the first major evidence directly linking positive creative fields to brain aging, although previous research has linked art to improved mood and well-being.
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“Creativity emerges as a powerful attribute of the brain, compared to exercise or diet,” lead author Dr. Agustin Ibanez of Trinity College Dublez said in a statement. “Our results open new avenues for immune-based interventions to protect the brain from illness and disease.”
Dr. Aneta Brzezicka of Sweps University added that the findings suggest that more than educational opportunities should be included in educational and health care programs as things to support brain health.
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This study also showed that brain clocks, a new tool gaining steam in neuroscience, can be used to monitor interventions aimed at improving brain health, said Ibanez.
Brain scans have revealed that creative activities strengthen key neural networks involved in attention, coordination, movement and problem solving. (Stock)
However, the researchers warned that the results are early and come with tunnels, including most of the participants were small, and the study did not follow people for a long time to see if the brain is small for dementia or better.
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“The brain clock, in the first studies, shows promise and accounts for the diversity of factors that can contribute to the kind of mental periods that exist,” Dr. Stewart Hao Dy, FOX News Digital.
“However, it is important for the public to know that brain health is influenced by a number of factors that create a critical brain gap,” added Dy, who was not involved in the study.
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Creative people often have other advantages, the researchers noted, such as higher education, stronger social lives and better access to arts and crafts, and the study can’t completely separate those things from the effects of creativity itself.
New research suggests that choosing a new creative game for any age can help keep the brain healthy. (Stock)
“Evidence shows that dancing, painting, pottery, covering the museum and visiting the museum provide great beauty in preserving the mind and improving cognitive function in older adults,” he said, and he admitted that science is strong enough to correct the action. “It’s a matter of translating it into public policy that will fund and support these programs.”
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The work, which was paid for by academics and the public, will now be followed by comprehensive studies that add other fields of creativity and link brain measures to real-world outcomes such as memory, cognitive abilities and disease risk.
FOX News Digital has reached out to the study’s authors for comment.
