Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us

"This is a book on neuro-aesthetics, a search into what art literally does to the brain and how creativity can improve one’s mental health. Art can actually alter your neural pathways. GCSE science was as far as I got, so I’m definitely not a scientist myself. Nonetheless, I’ve had these really quite intense reactions to artworks for most of my life, and discovering a scientific backing behind my subjective, aesthetic experiences has been really fascinating. It’s a revelation to me that looking at art lights up the same neural pathways as if you’re falling in love, or if you’re touching a loved one. Looking at something beautiful has a very distinct physiological effect in the brain, very much on an objective level. It’s not just me being a whimsical art historian and calling everything beautiful! We need creativity and beauty, on the scientific evidence, to lead a good life. There used to be no hard distinction between science and the arts. By insisting on a split between the two we’ve lost so much. Hopefully, and with the help of books like this, now we’re kind of going back to earlier, more holistic understanding, reconnecting and realising that our brains don’t see ‘aesthetic’ or ‘scientific’ experiences as necessarily different. On the contrary, we need this connection. When you look at a drawing , I believe that’s the closest you can get to an artist. It’s like seeing that process of thinking. The direct connection from their brain to their hand and onto the paper they’re drawing on, the immediacy is something you can feel. I find it really intimate."