A large international study found that creative activities such as music, dancing, painting, and even certain video games may help keep you healthy. The brain becomes biologically “younger”.
Researchers from 13 countries, including teams from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland and SWPS University in Poland, analyzed brain data from more than 1,400 adults of all ages around the world and found that those who regularly pursue creative hobbies have brain patterns that make them appear younger than their actual age.
A study published in October in the journal Nature Communications found that even short bursts of creative activity, such as playing a strategy-based video game for a few weeks, had significant benefits.
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The scientists collected brain data from people with advanced experience in tango, music, visual art, and strategy games, but also recruited non-experts for comparison. In addition, a third group of novices received short-term training in StarCraft II, a strategy video game. This allowed researchers to see how learning a new creative skill affects the brain in just a few weeks.
All participants underwent EEG and MEG brain scans, which were fed into a machine learning “brain age” model, a brain clock that estimates the age of the brain. Biologically and chronologically. Researchers then used advanced computer models to investigate why creativity protects the brain, finding that hobbies help strengthen networks responsible for coordination, attention, movement, and problem-solving, which can weaken with age.
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Those who had practiced creatively for many years showed the most significant decline in brain age, but even novices showed improvements, with strategy games increasing brain age markers after about 30 hours of training.
“One of our key points is that you don’t have to be an expert to reap the benefits of creativity,” lead author and postdoctoral fellow Carlos Coronel, Ph.D., of the Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, and Adolfo Ibanez University, said in a statement. “We found that learners actually got something out of the short video game training sessions.”
Previous studies have linked creativity to improvements in mood and well-being, but this is the first large-scale evidence directly linking multiple creative areas to delayed brain aging, researchers said.
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“Creativity emerges as a powerful determinant of brain health, comparable to exercise and diet,” lead author Dr. Agustín Ibanez from Trinity College Dublin said in a statement. “Our results open new avenues for creative interventions to protect the brain from aging and disease.”
Dr. Aneta Brzezicka from SWPS University added that the findings suggest that: creative entertainment It should be incorporated into educational and medical programs as a tool to support brain health.
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The study also showed that brain clocks, a relatively new tool gaining traction in neuroscience, can be used to monitor interventions aimed at improving brain health, Ibanez said.
However, the researchers cautioned that the results are early, the participants were mostly healthy adults, many of the subgroups were small, and the study did not track over time whether younger-looking brains actually translate into lower dementia risk or improved daily functioning.
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“Preliminary studies show that the brain clock shows promise and explains the diversity of factors that may contribute to the large difference between our brain ages and our chronological ages,” Dr. John Stewart Hao Dee, a board-certified adult neurologist in the Philippines, told FOX News Digital.
“But it’s important that the public knows that.” brain health “is influenced by a number of factors that increase age differences in the brain,” added Dy, who was not involved in the study.
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The researchers noted that creative people often have other advantages, such as higher education, a solid social life, and better access to arts and activities, and the study could not completely separate these factors from the effects of creativity itself.
“Evidence shows that dancing, painting, pottery, embroidery, and even visiting museums have the greatest neuroprotective effects in preserving cognition and improving cognitive function in older adults,” Dr. Dai said, agreeing that the science is strong enough to justify action. “It’s important to translate that into public policy that funds and supports these programs.”
This research is funded by academic and public research institutions, and future efforts include: more comprehensive research It adds other creative areas and connects brain age measurements to real-world outcomes such as memory, thinking skills, and disease risk.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the study authors for comment.
