The Art and Music Effect: How Creative Engagement Affects the Brain
- Elizabeth Nalley
- Aug 8
- 6 min read
Listening to a favorite song. Losing an hour to a sketchbook. Dancing in the kitchen. These moments are usually described as pleasant, meaningful, or restorative — but rarely as measurably good for the brain. That view is changing.
A growing body of research shows that arts engagement produces real, measurable effects on the brain and body — enough that public-health institutions have begun treating it as a health input in its own right. In 2019, the World Health Organization published a large scoping review that pulled together the evidence (Fancourt & Finn, 2019). Its lead author, University College London professor Daisy Fancourt — who directs the WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health — has since expanded the argument for a general audience in The Art Cure, the August pick for our Brain Builders Book Club.
This is the science behind what the arts actually do — and don't do — to the brain.
NPA QUICK SUMMARY
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What Neuroplasticity Says About Engagement
The brain reorganizes itself in response to what it does. Neurons form new connections, strengthen the pathways used most, and weaken those that go unused. This is neuroplasticity, and it is why active engagement matters for brain health at every age.
They tend to share three features: they engage multiple brain systems at once, they carry emotional meaning, and they often happen in a social context. The arts check all three boxes — which is why the neuroscience takes them seriously.
How Music Reaches the Brain
Music is one of the most well-studied examples. When someone listens to a piece of music they enjoy, the effect is not confined to the auditory cortex. Neuroimaging shows that music listening activates a widespread, bilateral network of brain regions involved in attention, memory, movement, language, emotion, and reward (Reybrouck et al., 2018; Salimpoor et al., 2013).
That has practical consequences. In a randomized controlled trial published in the journal Brain, stroke patients who listened to self-selected music daily during the first two months of recovery showed significantly better cognitive recovery and mood than those who listened to audiobooks or received standard care (Särkämö et al., 2008). Follow-up neuroimaging linked the gains to measurable structural changes in the brain.
The takeaway is not that music is a treatment — it is that a common, low-cost activity engaged enough of the brain's networks to shift the trajectory of recovery.
How Visual Art and Creative Making Engage the Brain
Making visual art draws on a different combination of the same principles. Drawing, painting, sculpting, and similar activities engage attention, planning, working memory, fine motor control, and continuous sensory feedback — usually at the same time. Add color, composition, and creative decision-making, and multiple cortical networks are working in parallel.
Like music, the point is not that any single session of art-making changes the brain in a lasting way. It is that regular, engaged creative practice provides exactly the kind of repeated, multi-system experience that drives plasticity.
Why Emotion and Connection Amplify the Effect
Two ingredients make arts engagement especially plasticity-strong.
Emotional meaning. Music that a person finds meaningful activates brain reward circuits — including the ventral striatum and connected regions — that support motivation and memory. Emotionally resonant experiences are more likely to leave a lasting neural imprint than neutral ones.
Social connection. A great deal of arts engagement is inherently social — singing together, group classes, book clubs, shared performances. Social connection is independently associated with better brain and cognitive health, and it multiplies the benefits of the activity itself.
These are two of the reasons the arts show up so consistently in the health data. They combine cognitive engagement with feeling and connection — which is a strong combination for the brain.
Applications in Neurological Conditions
For the people NPA serves, this is not abstract. Some of the most studied uses of arts engagement are in neurological care.
Stroke recovery. Beyond the Särkämö trial, pooled analyses have found that daily vocal music listening in particular can support cognitive and language recovery — likely because sung music activates extensive bilateral networks (Sihvonen et al., 2020).
Dementia. Music is well-studied in dementia care. Familiar music can reach memory and emotion that appear otherwise inaccessible, because musical memory often remains relatively preserved as other functions decline.
Progressive and chronic conditions. Creative engagement provides meaningful cognitive activity, emotional expression, and connection — supporting quality of life even when the underlying disease cannot be reversed.
Across all of these, the arts function as a complement to medical care, not a replacement. The neuroplasticity principle is the same one that runs through every article in this series: active, meaningful engagement supports the adapting brain.
What the Science Does Not Show
Fancourt is careful about this, and the research is too. The evidence does not show that music undoes a stroke, that painting reverses Alzheimer's, or that any creative practice replaces medical treatment. What it does show is that arts engagement is a documented, measurable contributor to brain health and quality of life — meaningful as part of care, not instead of it. The Art Cure makes this distinction directly, which is one of the reasons the book earned serious attention (including a shortlisting for the 2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction).
Bringing This Into Your Life
You do not need to be an artist to benefit. The research points to engagement, not skill. Listening to music that moves you, returning to a creative hobby, singing, drawing, dancing, making — all count. What matters is that the brain is active, engaged, and, ideally, enjoying itself. Join us for the Rewire Your Brain Program.
This month, we're reading The Art Cure together in our Brain Builders Book Club — the live virtual discussion is on Sept 15, 2026. Join us. The Brain Builders Book Club
Frequently Asked Questions
Can art and music improve brain health?
Research indicates that engaging with the arts supports health and well-being, including brain health. A 2019 WHO review of more than 3,000 studies found the arts play a role in preventing illness, promoting health, and supporting treatment across the lifespan.
How does music affect the brain?
Music listening activates a wide, bilateral network of brain regions involved in attention, memory, movement, emotion, and reward. In stroke recovery, daily music listening has been shown to improve cognitive outcomes and mood in a randomized trial.
Do I need artistic skill to benefit?
No. The research points to engagement, not skill. Listening, making, moving, or attending are all forms of arts engagement that can support brain health.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Arts engagement measurably affects the brain and body — the WHO synthesized 3,000+ studies to that effect.
Music activates wide, bilateral brain networks (attention, memory, movement, emotion, reward).
Daily music listening improved cognitive recovery and mood after stroke in a randomized trial.
Emotion and social connection amplify the plasticity effects of arts engagement.
The arts complement medical care — they do not cure or reverse disease.
Reading The Art Cure with us this August; discussion in September.
References
Fancourt, D., & Finn, S. (2019). What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe (Health Evidence Network synthesis report 67). https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289054553
Särkämö, T., Tervaniemi, M., Laitinen, S., Forsblom, A., Soinila, S., Mikkonen, M., Autti, T., Silvennoinen, H. M., Erkkilä, J., Laine, M., Peretz, I., & Hietanen, M. (2008). Music listening enhances cognitive recovery and mood after middle cerebral artery stroke. Brain, 131(3), 866–876. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awn013
Sihvonen, A. J., Leo, V., Ripollés, P., Lehtovaara, T., Ylönen, A., Rajanaro, P., Laitinen, S., Forsblom, A., Saunavaara, J., Autti, T., Laine, M., Rodríguez-Fornells, A., Tervaniemi, M., Soinila, S., & Särkämö, T. (2020). Vocal music enhances memory and language recovery after stroke: Pooled results from two RCTs. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, 7(11), 2272–2287. https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51217
Reybrouck, M., Vuust, P., & Brattico, E. (2018). Brain connectivity networks and the aesthetic experience of music. Brain Sciences, 8(6), 107.
Salimpoor, V. N., van den Bosch, I., Kovacevic, N., McIntosh, A. R., Dagher, A., & Zatorre, R. J. (2013). Interactions between the nucleus accumbens and auditory cortices predict music reward value. Science, 340(6129), 216–219. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1231059
Fancourt, D. (2026). Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health. London: Cornerstone Press. (Shortlisted, 2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction.)
About The Neuroplasticity Alliance
The Neuroplasticity Alliance is dedicated to translating neuroscience into practical, evidence-based education for individuals living with neurological conditions, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and researchers. Our mission is to empower recovery by providing scientifically accurate information on neuroplasticity, brain health, and rehabilitation — bridging the gap between emerging research and everyday application.
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