#Your Brain on Art

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Your Brain On Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

If you are one of those people who doubts the transformative power of the arts, then read this. If you already have an idea of the link that exists between the arts and your own personal well-being, then read this.

This book talks extensively about the physiological, psychological, and biological changes that experiencing art can have on the human body and psyche and it's fascinating! It will make you re-think how you interact with or implement it into your own life.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my review.

3/5 stars

**Follow me on Goodreads

[junkworldusa]

you make me want to draw again

here you go! this is also for my future self.

[zillychu]

everyone sh. shutd up im cooking smthn

[hellspawnmotel]

intimacy between an evil spiteful building-sized supercomputer and the lone scientist left behind after everyone else ditched and forgot about her (in which computer wants to kill scientist really bad but her programming wont let her so she just attempts to make her as miserable as possible instead, which also doesn't work because scientist is a freak)

[theadmiringbog]

Read the following statements and circle the number that corresponds to how often they apply to you, using the following scale.

1 = Never 2 = Rarely 3 = Sometimes 4 = Often 5 = Very Often

I attend music, dance, theatre, museums, and/or digital art activities. 1 2 3 4 5

I see beauty when I look at or experience art. 1 2 3 4 5

I am emotionally moved by music. 1 2 3 4 5

I am impressed by symmetry in artistic works. 1 2 3 4 5

I sculpt, paint, draw, craft, create films/video, or design. 1 2 3 4 5

When I look at art, I feel positive energy or invigoration. 1 2 3 4 5

I write poetry, lyrics, nonfiction, and/or fiction. 1 2 3 4 5

When I view art, my heart beats faster, or I have other physical effects. 1 2 3 4 5

I appreciate the visual design of buildings and interior spaces. 1 2 3 4 5

I take (or have taken) classes in art, craft, creative writing, aesthetics, etc. 1 2 3 4 5

When making or beholding art, I experience a sense of connection and community. 1 2 3 4 5

When experiencing the arts, I feel a oneness, unity, or connectedness with the universe/​nature/​existence/​deity. 1 2 3 4 5

I am deeply moved when I look at art. 1 2 3 4 5

I experience joy, serenity, or other positive emotions when I am making or beholding art. 1 2 3 4 5

The scale is organized into three categories:

Aesthetic Appreciation is the degree to which a person is responsive to the aesthetics of experiences and of their environment.

Intense Aesthetic Experience is the degree to which a person regularly responds to aesthetic experiences in a very intense way as opposed to more commonplace forms of appreciation.

Creative Behavior represents the degree to which a person engages in creative behaviors such as art-making.

Individual scale scores: Count your score for each question below and divide by the number of questions.

Aesthetic Appreciation: Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 13, 14 _____ Divided by 8 =______

Intense Aesthetic Experience: Questions 8, 12, 13 _____ Divided by 3 =______

Creative Behavior: Questions 5, 7, 10, 11 _____ Divided by 4 =_____

Cumulative scale score: To determine your cumulative score add all fourteen of your individual question scores together and divide by 14. ______ Divided by 14 =______

Low Below Average Average Above Average High For example, you might have a 3 in Aesthetic Appreciation, a 2 in Intensive Aesthetic Experience, a 5 in Creative Behavior, and a cumulative score of 4.

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arts and aesthetic experiences will improve your health and well-being and enhance your ability to learn and flourish.

--

Ivy carries tuning forks in her bag, because the resonant sound of the notes C and G combined can soothe a stressful moment.

--

In a study, Girija Kaimal, assistant dean for special research initiatives and an associate professor in the creative arts therapies program at Drexel University, found that for the majority of people, making art for as little as forty-five minutes reduces the stress hormone cortisol, no matter your skill level or experience. Making art is physiologically calming.

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Stress isn’t a feeling or an emotion, rather it’s a physiological response to our emotions.

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Sound vibration has the capacity to return the body to homeostasis and out of a fight-flight-freeze reaction.

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The notes C and G, which Ivy struck with her forks that day at work, resonate with the Earth’s core frequency and are known to be soothing vibrations. These frequencies are used together all over the world because the ratio, or interval, between the notes creates a universal feeling of harmony.

--

One study concluded that the frequency of blues and greens in mild hues help calm people in a work setting, reducing stress and fostering more creativity. The same study found that yellow promotes attention and focus. For some, red can be highly stimulating.

--

Studies have found that coloring can have a similar physiological response in the brain as the act of meditating by reducing outside noise and allowing for focus. In one study, anxiety was measured in participants before and after they drew and colored, and their heart rate, respiration, and skin conductance were measured throughout. The results found all physical indicators of anxiety reduced when coloring, and that perceptions of anxiety lowered as well.

[noodles-and-tea]

twins in time continuation of that blue doodle comic thingy, but fidd is forced to take care of stan when Ford gets into the portal stuff, leaving him behind.

I reckon he teaches him math…

[anitosoul]

(via Your Brain on Art)

[silverhalla]

obsessed with how the other backgrounds are like “you had a little oopsie moment with your faction so you’re temporarily benched” and then mourn watch is like “what if this LITTLE ORPHANED BABY!!!! was left IN A TOMB!!!!! to be DISCOVERED BY UNDEAD???? and then RAISED (collectively??) BY NECROMANCERS!!!!!!, only to be taken down by THE NECROPOLIS’ SCARIEST DANGER: BUREAUCRACY”

normalest protagonist in all of thedas tbh

[gildui]

inspired by @/cordeliawhohung's amazing mafia au, in limbo, i had to draw chip and simon <3

[datcravat]

DMG

[heynhay]

stuck with you

[drawerbread]

always your sword, my umbral sovereign

(finished rereading htn and i am not afraid to admit that it made me bawl like a baby… again)

[ionomycin]

Forest Guardians

[zillychu]

wow it's almost like. i enjoy dramatic identity reveals

(bonus under the cut)

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

Existential dysphoria

[kourota]

⸢This story is for just that one reader.⸥