Your Brain on Art
How the Arts Transform Us
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- 16,99 €
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- 16,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023
BARNES & NOBLE'S BEST SCIENCE & NATURE BOOKS OF 2023
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 — from painting and dancing to expressive writing, architecture and more — 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.
Your Brain on Art is an authoritative guide to how neuroaesthetics can help us transform traditional medicine, build healthier communities and mend an aching planet. 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Art will heal what ails you, according to this scattershot treatise on aesthetics and well-being. Johns Hopkins neurologist Magsamen (Family Stories) and Ross, Google's vice president of hardware design, draw on scientific studies to explain how making and appreciating art, music, dance, theater, and writing affect the brain and promote health. Some of the applications the authors highlight intrigue, such as the success of dance classes in helping Parkinson's patients improve movement and singing classes in hastening new mothers' recovery from postpartum depression. Other benefits are more modest and unsurprising: adult coloring books reduce stress and anxiety, and group dancing fosters social bonding. There's disappointingly sparse insight on neuroscience, as well. For instance, when the authors note that "poetry activates brain areas such as the posterior cingulate cortex and medial temporal lobes," which "intensify emotions," the unsurprising takeaway is that poetry elicits an emotional response. Elsewhere, the scientific discussions sometimes edge toward new age mysticism, as when the authors write that the "notes C and G... resonate with the Earth's core frequency and are known to be soothing vibrations." This somewhat obvious brief comes up short. Photos.
