LEANING ARTS AND THE BRAIN

JOHNS HOPKINS

NEURO-ED SUMMIT

MAY 6, 2009

Michael I. Posner University of Oregon

Music (Hear, Play)4

Visual Arts2

Write, See Plays3

Dance1

MovementFoot-tapping,dancing, playingan instrument

Visual PerceptionReading music,

watching a performance

Emotional Reactionsto music

Expectancy Generation,violation & satisfaction

Memory & Associations

Sensory Feedbackfrom playing an instrument,

dancing

AuditoryPerception& Analysis

BA47

BA44

Auditory cortex

Visual cortex

Ref.: Fujioka, T, Ross, B, Kakigi, R, Pantev, C, Trainor, LJ. One year of musical training affects development of auditory cortical-evoked fields in young children. Brain 2006; 129(10):2593-2608.

G ENE RA L A EST H ET IC C UST ER

Imagi na ti on , Cr eativi ty , Ar ti stic

I sh ow a lo t of imagi na ti on

I am cr ea ti ve

I am a r ti stic

A ssoc iati ve Sensi tivit y Sp on t an e o u s c o g n i t iv e c o n t e nt th a t i s no t r el a t ed

t o s t a nd a rd a ss o ci a ti on s wi t h t h e e nv ir on m e n t .

24 . I som etim es see m to unde rstand th ing s intuiti ve ly.

39 . When I am re sti ng w ith my eye s c lo sed , I som etimes see v isua l im ages .

41 . Som etim es m y mi nd is full o f a d ive rse array of loo sely conn ected though ts and

im age s.

62 . I som etime s dre am o f v ivid, de tail ed se tti ng s tha t are un like any thing tha t I have

expe ri enc ed when awake .

79 . W ithou t apply ing effo rt , crea tive ideas so m etim es p res ent the ms elves t o m e.

THEORY

1. NETWORKS FOR EACH SPECIFIC ART FORM

2. GENERAL FACTOR OF INTEREST IN ARTS

GENERAL ARTS FACTOR RELATED TO ORIENTING SENSITIVITY = OPENNESS

3. WHEN GENERAL FACTOR IS HIGH - ARTS TRAINING IN AN APPROPRIATE SPECIFIC ART- PRODUCES HIGH INTEREST OR MOTIVATON

4. INTEREST SUSTAINS ATTENTION

5. ATTENTION TRAINING IMPROVES COGNITION

ATTENTION TRAINING

ERP time courses of the conflict resolution

Adults

CongruentIncongruent

Trained Non-trained

6 year old children

Figure 1

Non-trained

4 year old children

Trained

µV

ms

p<.05p<.10

Fz

Fcz

Cz

ERP time courses of the conflict resolution

Adults 6-year-old children

SUMMARY

Support for general theory of ARTS training and cognition

Increasing evidence for genetic involvement in individual differences

Likelihood of age related changes in how genes shape aesthetic preference

GENETICS FINDINGS

PARENTAL ORIENTING SENSITIVITY RELATED TO COMT - DOPAMINE

DRD4 7 REPEAT INTERACTS WITH PARENTING QUALITYTO INFLUENCE CHILD BEHAVIOR. PARENTS WITH7 REPEAT HAVE REDUCED INTEREST IN SPECIFIC ARTFORMS

DBH (DOPAMINE AND TPH2 SEROTONIN WERE RELATEDTO EXECUTIVE ATTENTION AND TO INTEREST IN AESTHETICS