Benefits of Art
“At first glance, art is something like the cherry on the cake. When we put all the other things in order, then we can think of art as well. “
Michael Gazaniga
This is not only about buying choice . Working as a teacher, I also see this tendency in many parents’ thinking about their child’s idea of attending drawing lessons. The art for them is entertainment and is not one of the basic items in which it is worth investing in lessons. In large numbers, children attend sports activities, language schools and math classes. If time and resources for art remain, then the drawing lessons coming. This is very wrong because drawing helps in a number of further processes in the development of a child. In this article I will focus on this and how it happens.
Neurobiologists, meanwhile, claim that communicating with the arts, especially in areas related to stage appearances, “spurs” the brain’s work and perfectly prepares it for the science, developing above all the concentration necessary for knowledge. It is no accident that the “center of the beautiful” is located in the prefrontal cortex – the youngest in evolutionary part of it, which is also responsible for analytical thinking.
When we look at pictures, no matter who they are drawn to in the brain, the back of the cerebral cortex is activated. When we listen to music, we stimulate the temporal cortex, and when we read books the neural networks of the foreparts. The brain works even more intensely when we play the piano ourselves, draw or write poems. Scientists have found that composing, performing, and listening to music trigger all of our cognitive mechanisms.
When you pick up a guitar, “perception, memory, attention, motor skills, emotions, abstract thinking and understanding of alien consciousness – all these mechanisms are involved in complex activity,” notes Michael Gazaniga.
Tubi and Cosmids write that we find the arts to be useless because we value them in terms of the changes that occur in the outside world, and in fact, what is most important in the inner world – in the brain.
It seems to us that drawing watercolor landscapes is not as useful as solving equations with two unknowns, because it is the latter that will appear in the exams. Of course, we should not give up mathematics, but at the same time we should not underestimate art, because thanks to it, the brain will learn to concentrate faster and more successfully. As Tubi and Cosmids claim, investment in art is investment in a neurocognitive organization. They are especially useful in the early years and have an effect throughout most of life.
Not only the example of Leonardo da Vinci, who today we would call at the same time an artist, architect, philosopher, musician, mathematician, mechanic, anatomist and geologist, convinces us that art goes hand in hand with his career.
Did you know that?
The American theoretical physicist Richard Phillips Feynman, one of the creators of quantum electrodynamics and a Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1965, played drums and worked in painting.
Microbiologist Hilary Koprovski, the creator of the polio vaccine, also worked on music: he played piano and composed, as did the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell.
Helen Neville finds that children in the arts, particularly music, have significantly improved their performance in terms of concentration, visual space, and even… the ability to think.
How does art help us in stress?
Apart from the fact that art helps our further development, it can always help us in difficult times and stress. A study shows that just 45 minutes of creative activity can reduce stress, regardless of experience and talent. The study was conducted on 39 adults between 18 and 59 years of age. Their task was to create something they enjoy. Previously, researchers recorded cortisol levels of study participants. Immediately after drawing began, the researchers again tested participants’ cortisol levels. Approximately 75% of them are found to show lower levels of cortisol, which means lower levels of stress. Many countries are already successfully working in the field of art therapy as a treatment for people with diseases. At a slower pace, this is beginning to enter our country, but more and more people are turning to it because they feel the positive influence.
In conclusion, I will say create art and encourage your children to do it, no matter what form, because, in addition to the abovementioned benefits, every person who creates art enriches the world with positive energy and the phrase that “Art will save the world” isn’t accidental.
