Brain Scans Reveal the Power of Art

John Constable, "Salisbury Cathedral From the Meadows" (1831). Constable was one of the artists whose work inspired the highest amount of blood flow in the pleasure center of the brain.

According to a May 8, 2011 article in The Telegraph, Robert Mendick reports on an experiment conducted by Samir Zekis, a professor of neuroaesthetics (who knew such a subject existed?) at University College, London.  Zekis used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to measure blood flow in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, part of the brain associated with pleasure and desire, while subjects viewed a series of paintings.  The subjects were picked at random, and had little background in art, so as to downplay potential bias.   Zekis' team found that "when you look at art – whether it is a landscape, a still life, an abstract or a portrait – there is strong activity in that part of the brain related to pleasure." Reactions were "immediate", with blood flow rising as much as 10% in some subjects "Art induces a feel-good sensation direct to the brain," producing a similar effect to gazing at a loved one.

While it probably comes as no surprise that beautiful art evokes pleasure--and we didn't need MRI scans to confirm it--I think that the strong emotional charge spurred by art suggests its educational potential.  Brain research suggests that emotional affect aids retention of content, therefore harnessing the power of art in conjunction with other disciplines could have benefits for a variety of learners.

Hieronymus Bosch, "The Garden of Earthly Delights" (1515).  Bosch's work, presumably because subjects deemed it unattractive, produced lower blood flow to the  brain.

Even A Few Years of Musical Training Benefits the Brain

In her August 2012 "Science Sushi" blog post, "Even a Few Years of Musical Training Benefits the Brain", author Christie Wilcox provides a helpful summation of several studies examining the effect of music on the brain.  Some of the crucial research findings:

1. Musicians are better able to process foreign languages because of their ability to hear differences in pitch, and have incredible abilities to detect speech in noise. Even those w/ a few years of music training showed more robust neural processing of sounds. Music "tones auditory fitness", critical for perceiving speech and distinguishing, recognizing and processing conversation in noisy environments.

2. Musical training and education may confer linguistic, mathematical, and spatial benefits, and moreover, promote social development/"team player" capacities.

Speaking the Words: Words that Wound, Words that Heal

One of my seniors came to conference with me yesterday.  She told me that she'd been thinking a lot about the power of words, as a result of the work we'd been doing in Speech: Art of the Spoken Word, a junior/senior English elective.  One of the most challenging aspects of the course is helping students find the confidence to voice their thoughts and fully commit to them, and in doing so, open themselves to others.

My student said she'd been inspired by my statement that, through language, we have the ability to shape our destiny, as well as to inspire and move others. Thanks to ongoing "air time" and oratorical practice, she'd also gained courage and confidence in being able to speak her mind.  Thinking about her own life, she identified an area where she might employ language to repair past damage.  Due to abusive, fractured familial relationships and the cruel aftermath of divorce, she has been completely estranged from her father and younger brother for the past four years, and the ensuing separation has caused psychological agony and scarring.  While my student knows she cannot control other people, her newfound confidence in speaking spurred her to summon her courage and do something she'd previously deemed unthinkable.  She dialed her father's number and suggested that he, she, and her brother get together.  To her surprise, her father agreed.

While this situation might not ultimately conclude in Hollywood, fairytale fashion, my student  reported that her rendezvous with father and brother went extremely well--they went out to the movies and dinner afterwards, and enjoyed warm, friendly companionship and conversation--no hint of acrimony or awkwardness to sour the moment.  She's cautiously optimistic about the future, knowing that she's strong enough to seize the reins to her life: a lesson with ramifications stretching far beyond classroom walls.

Essential Questions for My Haku Year Project

Punahou requires Academy teachers to reflect on their teaching practices and pursue ongoing professional development.  In their Haku Year, teachers investigate a topic of their choice that has both personal and curricular import.  As a member of Haku Cohort IV, in my Annual Report last May, I was asked to answer the following prompt:
   

Please discuss the essential questions you wish to use as the basis for your Haku Year project.   Why does this area of focus interest you?  What are you going to do?  How will you obtain student feedback?  How will you share your work/thinking with our community?

My response:

The third bullet of Punahou's mission statement reads as follows:

·             Develop and enhance creativity and appreciation of the arts.

 

I have a long-standing personal and pedagogical interest in the arts, and in my work as a Curriculum Resource Teacher (CRT) and teacher, have uncovered some research that suggests the arts should not be seen as supplemental, but essential.  For my Haku Year, I will be investigating the following questions:

• How and in what ways are the arts, both visual and performing, important?
• How might arts integration benefit instruction in English and other disciplines?

Specific questions to consider/areas to investigate:

1.     At Punahou, K-12, in what grades/courses do the arts and other disciplines intersect? What are the rationales underlying the conscious pedagogical choice to integrate art with core curricula?  What're the experiences of teachers and students when arts are integrated: Benefits?  Challenges?  Pitfalls?

o   AP Biology (Diane Sweeney, Mike Judge): use of drama, music, and cooking to illustrate key concepts.

o   Arts and Letters.

o   Gr. 4 (Kris Schwengel): iMovie, Comic Life.

o   Gr. 6 Underground Railroad Drama Reenactment.

o   English I Poetry/Drama: rap poems, acting out Shakespeare scenes.

o   Sophomore Quality Project; Senior Independent Project.

o   Might also be worth looking at mainstream art classes and seeing whether they utilize elements from other disciplines, e.g. I think Dana Len's AP Art classes require students to keep a metacognitive artist's log.

2.     Art's often viewed in terms of product, not process; outcome-driven, as opposed to a learning tool.  As a result, the arts are often compartmentalized as separate, "special" classes, not only in Hawaii's public school system, but Punahou as well.  What benefits, if any, do the arts confer which transcend the traditional values accorded to them, namely enrichment and aesthetic value? 

3.     Would instruction improve by deliberately incorporating a stronger artistic element into mainstream academic subjects like English, Social Studies, Math, Science, and Foreign Language?  If so, how? 

·             Storyboarding/sketching as scaffolding for writing.

·             Music/rhythm aids in retention of content.

·             Multiple intelligences and sensory hands-on learning: increased engagement for all learners, could increase intrinsic motivation.

4.     In regard to cognition and neurology, in what ways do the arts affect and/or shape the brain, and what're the implications of those changes?

·             Music and language are processed in the same area of the brain; musicians have comparatively better language facility, because of increased ability to discern pitch, rhythm, intonation.

·             Novelty effect + physical activity à build neural networks

5.     Interview community resources, e.g. State Foundation for Culture and the Arts, Artists-In-The-Schools teaching partners, Youth Speaks Hawaii, and students re: the value of the arts.

6.     In my classes, I've noticed there's historically been a strong correlation between high achievement in English and artistic talent, often in multiple areas.  Why might this be so? Does study of the arts enhance linguistic ability, and if so, how?

7.     Based on my findings at the end of this process, what concrete strategies could I and other non-arts teachers incorporate to enhance teaching and instruction?

Data Collection Methods:

1.     Literature review, especially in regard to arts-brain linkages.

2.     Classroom observation.

3.     Interviews w/ Punahou colleagues, community resources, and students.

Documentation Method: This blog.