Creative Pursuits Linked to Younger Brains, Study Finds
engaging in creative activities may help maintain “neurological youth,” accordingโ to research published on October 3rd in Natureโ Communications1.The study reveals that participation in hobbies like tango,music,visual arts,and video โขgames is associated with increased connections across different brain areas,notably in regions vulnerable to age-related decline.
Researchers, led by โฃneuroscientist Agustรญn Ibรกรฑez at Adolfo Ibรกรฑez University in Santiago, Chile, aimed to investigate the biological basis forโฃ the observed brain benefits of creativeโ engagement. โข”There is really poor mechanistic evidence,” Ibรกรฑezโ stated, highlighting theโค need for a deeper understanding โof how these activities โคimpact the โฃbrain.
To address this, the team developed โค”brain clocks” using neuroimaging data from 1,240 participants across โคten countries. These machine-learning models โฃestimated brain age based on functional connectivity – how different brain regions communicate. They โขthen applied these clocks to 232 individuals involved in creative pursuits, calculating a “brain age gap” by comparing predicted brainโฃ ageโข to chronologicalโ age.
the results showed that all four creative activities appeared to โขslow โbrain ageing. The degree of benefit correlatedโ with skill and experience; โคmore proficient participants exhibited slowerโ brain ageing. Expert tangoโค dancers showedโ the most significant โeffect, with brains averaging โseven โyears younger than their actual age. ibรกรฑez explainedโ that tango’s complex combination of movement, coordination,โ and planningโ makes it particularly effective forโฃ maintaining brain health.
Further analysisโฃ revealed that creativity had the greatest impact on the frontoparietal region โคofโ the brain, an area crucial for โขfunctions like working memory andโฃ decision-making, andโค one of theโ most susceptibleโค to age-related decline. Experienced participants demonstrated strongerโข brain connections in areas related to movement control, coordination, and rhythm.
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1 โค The findings were โpublished onโฃ 3 October in Nature communications.
