For this entry, I’m sharing the latest episode of the NEA’s research podcast, Quick Study. This month, we discuss brain functional changes that Auburn University researchers detected in students enrolled in a 16-week observational drawing course. The NEA-funded study results were published recently in the journal Neuropsychologia. A transcript of this podcast is at the NEA website.
By Any Measure
No art unconsidered
Fascinating! But really no surprise that brain plasticity is developed by engaging in arts practices. It’s just that science is finally catching up to validate what we intuitively know. Sadly, this seems to be the only way to justify (or attempt to justify) appropriate funding for arts education and investing in the arts in general.
The utilitarian argument that art is good for you (proven by studies such as these) is ultimately not going to persuade citizens and legislatures who dislike (or fear) the arts. But if this sways a few to increase their support, I guess this is NEA money well spent.
I also have to add that as cool as the MRI is, until we can observe brain variations “in the wild” and not with someone lying very still in a large tube, the studies are not going to be sufficient nor entirely persuasive.
DO GET THE WORD OUT
TO SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE
WHERE. MACHINE DRAWING REIGNS SUPREME.