A 2019 case of viral encephalitis “basically broke my brain,” says 61-year-old Theresa Aitkenhead, who lives outside Denver. She couldn't talk on the phone because it was difficult to connect the words without seeing the speaker. She lost interest in going out and meeting new people. Her short-term memory was so damaged that, if she was traveling, she sometimes couldn't remember what city she was in.
Playing the drums has helped her recover. She remembers the day three years ago that she felt the healing begin. “It was like my brain woke up. It had been in limbo for almost two years, and then all of a sudden I felt an energy,” says Aitkenhead, who worked as a registered nurse for a pharmaceutical company before her brain injury forced her to retire. “When you have a brain injury, the neural pathways you're used to are gone. You have to create new ones.”
A growing interest in neuroaesthetics—the study of how the arts measurably affect body, brain, and behavior—is prompting new research and analyses affirming those hypotheses. A meta-analysis in Archives of Psychiatric Nursing in 2023 concluded that art therapy significantly decreased depression in people with mild and major cognitive disorders. A study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience published in 2023 found that people with Parkinson's disease had significant improvement in motor skills, cognition, mood, and overall level of functioning after 20 sessions of group art therapy.
And there's seemingly endless anecdotal evidence affirming the power of the arts. Aitkenhead can add to that. She's leaving the house again, often to attend concerts so she can study the drummers. She moves more gracefully. Drumming, she says, helps her exercise body and mind. “I'll come down at 11 a.m., think I'm going to play for 30 minutes, and then it's 1:30, 2 p.m., and I'm hungry and thirsty, and those are the only reasons I stop,” she says.
“The arts are extraordinary, and that's why we're evolutionally wired for them,” says Susan Magsamen, founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab at the Pedersen Brain Science Institute in Baltimore. “They're also affordable and accessible.” Unfortunately, health-focused arts programs are underfunded in the United States compared with programs in Europe, Australia, and Canada, says Magsamen, who is also assistant professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “Most [insurers in the U.S.] don't cover arts therapy, much less arts by prescription.”
That may be changing in some states. In June, the Mass Cultural Council launched CultureRx, a statewide program in Massachusetts that allows health care providers to write patients “social prescriptions” that could include attending performances, visiting galleries, or taking an art class or workshop. This is the program's first year following a successful three-year pilot.
In New Jersey, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield has partnered with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark to create ArtsRx, a social prescription program. Blue Cross customers and Rutgers University–Camden students receive referrals for six months of free art prescriptions, which might include attending a performance at NJPAC, joining a knitting circle at the Newark Public Library, or dancing at Newark Symphony Hall.
Arts-based therapies involve using specific artistic activities to improve physical conditions (for example, regular dance classes to benefit people with Parkinson's disease) and spark positive feelings through creative expression. More formally, arts therapy is provided by licensed art therapists and often combines traditional talk therapy with making art.
“You don't have to be an artist to be in art therapy. In fact, most people aren't,” says Juliet King, PhD, associate professor of art therapy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and adjunct associate professor of neurology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. “The creative process helps people externalize their internal worlds, allowing them to process and work through their trauma in a way that feels safe and nonthreatening,” says Dr. King. “For example, art therapists might ask clients to paint a picture that represents how they see themselves. Afterward, they would talk together about the colors and shapes in the artwork. This discussion helps clients understand how their paintings reflect their feelings and thoughts, making it easier for them to express what's going on inside, even if they find it hard to put into words.”
Priya Rama has had migraine attacks since childhood, spending days in bed until the pain and fog cleared. About a decade ago, the Ohio resident and married mother of two decided to paint the colors she saw swirling through her head when it ached. “It felt like angry noise would go away when I was painting,” says Rama, 56, who lives outside Cincinnati. “It allowed me to let go of the anger and frustration I felt. It's strange, because these colors were always inside me, and I never took them seriously.” Rama has presented her work at art fairs, often encountering others who have had similar experiences. She's spoken to students at the University of Cincinnati about her experiences. She's also led art classes for people with Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.
Art therapy allows people to tap into difficult experiences or memories in ways that are not overwhelming, says Dr. King, who has worked with military veterans dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder. “Patients often achieve a flow state in therapy, which has been found to have positive mental and physical health outcomes,” she says.
That flow state is similar to the calm and relaxed feelings some people experience after intense exercise, says Tammy Shella, PhD, a registered and board-certified art therapist who manages the Cleveland Clinic's art therapy program.
In a study published in The Arts in Psychotherapy in 2018, Shella reviewed the charts of 195 hospitalized patients who were asked to rate their mood and levels of pain and anxiety before they participated in an art therapy session at bedside. They then were asked the same questions afterward. Almost all reported less anxiety and better moods, and some even reported less pain, she says.
A 7.5-foot-by-6–foot mural of a field of tulips graces a wall at the Indiana University Health Neuroscience Center in Indianapolis. The mural program was launched in 2020 by Ashley Hildebrandt, a board-certified art therapist, with help from a community grant from the Parkinson's Foundation. Twelve patients with Parkinson's each received a packet of small canvases and paints and were asked to paint tulips and return their artwork to Hildebrandt, who put them together like a puzzle. The flower has since become a symbol of Parkinson's. “The mural is breathtaking,” says Hildebrandt, who has since worked on other murals with specific groups—lavender for epilepsy, sunflowers for traumatic brain injury, and forget-me-nots for Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
At the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, a mask-making project is underway in collaboration with the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Participants, all of whom have posttraumatic stress symptoms, receive blank papier-mâché masks and are invited to create a self-portrait. After several weeks of other art therapy sessions, each participant is given another blank mask and asked to create another self-portrait. The first batch of 10 collected masks—five made at the start of the project and five at its finish—was evaluated via crowdsourcing. Those evaluating the masks were asked to describe emotions they felt while viewing the works. Most preferred the final masks, which evoked feelings of calm and pleasure. “For us, it validated the efficacy of art therapy,” says Anjan Chatterjee, MD, FAAN, director of the center and professor of neurology, psychology, and architecture at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. The ongoing study will expand to other veteran-focused medical facilities. “Showing data in these kinds of interventions is very important,” says Dr. Chatterjee, who published a short piece in Scientific Reports in March 2024 and wrote an article about the study in Psychology Today in May 2024.
“We need empirical data to convince skeptics about art therapy, but we need funding to collect those data and to generate more evidence,” says Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, director of the Friedman Brain Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. “There are many stories of miraculous changes in people's functions after engagement with the arts.” He cites an experience with his own father, who had severe dementia before he died in 2014 at age 101. Dr. Nestler took his dad to a talk about Gone with the Wind. At one point during the talk, his father said loudly, “Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.” His father was noncommunicative at the time and didn't appear to be paying attention, says Dr. Nestler. “People who have parents with dementia will tell you stories about how their parents are nonverbal but will hear familiar songs and start singing. The evidence is there,” he says. “We just need to go deeper.”
