Your Aging Brain LOVES The Visual & Performing Arts! By Dr. Marc Rothman

Incorporate art into daily activities to increase mood, decrease stress, and care for your brain

By Marc Rothman, MD

Believe it or not, parts of your brain are in constant contact with the outside world: your eyes process photons and wavelengths of light, your ears interpret vibrations, your nose decodes odors. Your five senses are constantly feeding information back to your brain for processing. 

All brains crave this rich tapestry of information, regardless of age or cognitive ability. We can use this knowledge to help those with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease avoid the loneliness, isolation, and boredom that often accompany those diagnoses.

It turns out that engaging in creativity—by being in highly sensory environments and through the visual and performing arts—can elevate mood, reduce anxiety, caregiver burnout, and unnecessary medication use, and improve well-being. The benefits of this engagement can be achieved in a few simple steps.

Experience the outdoors

Nature is the ultimate sensory experience, with vivid colors, unique sounds, and fragrant aromas. Adrenaline, blood pressure, and heart rate are all reduced when people come into contact with plants, vegetation, and other natural elements, and research shows that spending just 20 minutes in nature significantly lowers levels of cortisol. Stepping outside the home every day is a great way to help people with memory loss stay calm and in the present rather than focused on the past, which can cause anxiety and frustration. 

Enrich your environment

Stimulating environments bring together color, form, sound, shape, and storytelling. It’s not a surprise that the visual and performing arts provide strong sensory inputs that engage people regardless of memory or cognitive function.  

The arts can trigger neurochemicals, hormones, and endorphins that offer viewers an emotional release, referred to by Aristotle as “catharsis.” These chemicals affect our physiology and behaviors. Music, song, dance, film, sculpture, and paintings all help us process emotions and name and express our feelings.

Consider a trip to an art museum, a dance hall, or a theater to add some of these exceptional therapeutic tools to your routine. Several theaters and museums have times specifically geared toward those living with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other cognitive abilities. Late mornings or early afternoons are best for these outings, taking into account our natural rhythms and the expected crowds at the location. 

Incorporate art into your daily life

Art as medicine has been studied in more than 3000 published papers and across a wide swath of domains, including postpartum anxiety and depression, childhood trauma, and stroke. The evidence is robust, in particular for alleviating various symptoms and enhancing treatment outcomes. Unfortunately, despite robust research, these programs are often underfunded. 

Several ways to incorporate art into our daily routines include: 

1. Dispel the “I’m not artistic” myth. We do NOT need to be “artistic” to be creative. This is a mental hurdle and has no bearing on how effective art will be in improving our mood, stress level, and mental health. 
2. Start with music. Everyone has musical memories in their brain accompanying moments in time, such as a high school dance or a wedding day. Grab at those nostalgia strings and throw those feel-good songs on during your morning routine. For persons living with dementia who are unable to articulate this, experiment with different genres to find out what resonates with them, as indicated by a calm demeanor, some toe-tapping or humming—and maybe even a smile. Then, incorporate that music into daily activities, such as dressing, grooming, and meal times.
3. Add movement. It’s a short hop from humming along to a tune while brushing your teeth to dancing on the way to breakfast. Dancing is great for exercise and mood, and doesn’t need to be overly structured. Some leaning and clapping is plenty, and you can incorporate hand-held instruments, such as maracas or shakers, to stimulate interest and engagement, too.  
4. Add friends. Combatting the loneliness and isolation that so often come with those who are walking a path of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are programs, such as a Memory Disco by the Day by Day Project, ARTZ in the Making by ARTZ Philly, and the Art Expressions Program from the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center on Long Island. Tailored programs are available online and in person, depending on the area in which you live. (Dementia Spring features programs like this one in its Spotlight, published on Tuesdays. Find these and more on DementiaSpring.org.) 

Participation in art is not contingent on any artistic or cognitive abilities, and dementia should not keep you from partaking in these activities. Because every family deserves peace of mind and meaningful moments, I encourage you to identify partners that provide everything you need to meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges—including referrals to art-based programs in your community. 

“No one else, not a single person on the planet, has your exact brain,” Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross write in their 2023 book Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. It’s important to take care of it.  

Dr. Marc Rothman has dedicated his professional career to helping older adults. As CEO of Lizzy Care, a full-service dementia care management company, Dr. Rothman draws from his years as a practicing physician and physician executive to design programs that deliver care more safely and effectively. Dr. Rothman is also the founder of Dementia Spring Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports artists and innovators who are telling new stories of dementia, curating programs engaging those living with dementia, and harnessing creativity to foster community and hope.