NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A life-altering journey through the science of neuroaesthetics, which offers proof for how our brains and bodies transform when we participate in the arts—and how this knowledge can improve our health, enable us to flourish, and build stronger communities.
“This book blew my mind!”—Angela Duckworth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit
A BLOOMBERG BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Finalist for the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award and the Porchlight Business Book Award
What is art? Many of us think of the arts as entertainment—a luxury of some kind. In Your Brain on Art, authors Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross show how activities from painting and dancing to expressive writing, architecture, and more are essential to our lives.
We’re on the verge of a cultural shift in which the arts can deliver potent, accessible, and proven solutions for the well-being of everyone. Magsamen and Ross offer compelling research that shows how engaging in an art project for as little as forty-five minutes reduces the stress hormone cortisol, no matter your skill level, and just one art experience per month can extend your life by ten years. They expand our understanding of how playing music builds cognitive skills and enhances learning; the vibrations of a tuning fork create sound waves to counteract stress; virtual reality can provide cutting-edge therapeutic benefit; and interactive exhibits dissolve the boundaries between art and viewers, engaging all of our senses and strengthening memory. Doctors have even been prescribing museum visits to address loneliness, dementia, and many other physical and mental health concerns.
Your Brain on Art is a portal into this new understanding about how the arts and aesthetics can help us transform traditional medicine, build healthier communities, and mend an aching planet.
Featuring conversations with artists such as David Byrne, Renée Fleming, and evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson, Your Brain on Art is an authoritative guide to neuroaesthetics. The book weaves a tapestry of breakthrough research, insights from multidisciplinary pioneers, and compelling stories from people who are using the arts to enhance their lives.
Laura Bundesen –
Love this book and it’s an important resource for me as a Neuro artist – I originally bought the audible version which I’ve listened to twice and then bought the hard copy for my permanent brain-related library
Sunflower –
Informative. Written well. Challenges your thinking and helps one to value art/the arts more.
Walter Scott –
An understandable review of the (neuro) science behind artistic/aesthetic feelings. Improve your health, well-being, relationships and your environment. Highly recommend!
Ronnie M. –
An excellent read and It has certainly made me want to spend more of my time appreciating the world around me.
Kathleen Modrowski –
“Your Brain on Art” provides a good understanding of why ideas we have practiced intuitively are useful, such as Art as a way to build community.
General Jontra –
So NOW you’ll know why doing all the doodling feels so good for your brain. It’s science, man. Well-documented and eye-opening
Janet F. Guerrin –
But not what I’m looking for. IM 90 YO and have read that drawing improves memory. How? This seems more about other arts and about how LOOKING at art changes a person. What does making art do? And does it last? I used to draw about to devote more time to it again. Will it benefit my aging mind or just take time from more “useful” activity? Just wondering….ill do anyway for the joy of it.
Susan Adam –
Some of the impacts of art (as artists or appreciators) may seem familiar – but this book shows the biology and science behind them. Art as workhorse – as essential.
Lieve –
What I love most about this book is how interdisciplinary it is. The authors did an incredible job and bringing together many beautiful anecdotes and making the science accessible.
JustRead –
I thought this book would be more, but it’s mostly anecdotal incidents incorporating the work of various people in the field about the salutary effects of art on mental health. The thesis of the book is wonderful – but nothing we don’t already know. I am struggling to get through it since it’s quite repetitive in terms of driving home the same idea.
Helena Wergles Ramos –
Eu ainda não estou nem na metade do livro e já estou revolucionada por ele. Já entendi que meu cérebro precisa de praticar artes (criatividade) com regularidade. A arte dá barato, e o livro explica isso com base na ciência. É maravilhoso. Recomendo muito pra todo mundo que sente conexão com as experiências estéticas, seja artes formais ou até simplesmente estar na natureza – caso você queira descobrir porque você se sente tão restaurado na natureza ou na prática ou contato com artes. É uma leitura que pode ajudar muitas pessoas a recuperarem a saúde mental de formas práticas através de práticas simples de artes, mesmo sem talento etc. Tudo sempre explicando os efeitos de vários estímulos sensoriais e emocionais etc – no cérebro. É uma leitura bem interessante e necessária.
M –
More books like this should be written to educate the public the importance of arts
Grace –
A fascinating and engaging overview of neuroaesthetics