ART AFFECTS THE BRAIN

2/27/2018

I just read a fascinating article from Science Daily and had to share what I found with you all!  We all know the awesome benefits of using doodle notes and being creative in the classroom, but this is a new and exciting find for me.

I love discovering new research that backs up my teaching strategies; it helps to reassure that I am doing the best possible job educating students!

Last year, a team of researchers used fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) to measure blood flow in the areas of the brain related to rewards while the study participants completed three different art activities: coloring in a mandala, doodling around or within a circle on paper, and free-drawing.

Example of a mandala

During these three-minute activities (with rests in between), researchers found an increase in blood flow in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.

According to this article, “the prefrontal cortex is related to regulating our thoughts, feelings and actions. It is also related to emotional and motivational systems and part of the wiring for our brain’s reward circuit. So seeing increased bloodflow in these areas likely means a person is experiencing feelings related to being rewarded.”

Doodling in or around circles on paper showed the highest levels of increased blood flow in the prefrontal cortex, but that difference was not statistically significant because the sample size wasn’t large enough.

The researchers also compared the results of participants who considered themselves to be artists versus those who did not.  Artists showed negative brain activity in the set coloring activity, possibly because they felt constrained by the pre-drawn shapes or time limits.

My takeaway from this study’s findings is that when our students use doodle notes, they experience feelings of being rewarded.  We know it helps them to internalize new information, so the fact that doodling activates the brain’s reward system is such a win-win!  Do you find this research as exciting as I do?  Sounds to me like one more perk or bonus for our students when we use visual note-taking! Let us know what you think in the comments below!