艺术是如何激活你的大脑的?

艺术是如何激活你的大脑的?

A lot of my free time is spent doodling. I'm a journalist on NPR's science desk by day. But all the time in between, I am an artist — specifically, a cartoonist.

我的很多空闲时间都用来涂鸦了。白天我是NPR科学台的记者。但在这期间，我一直是个艺术家——确切地说，是个漫画家。

I sketch at the coffee shop before work. And I like challenging myself to complete a zine — a little magazine — on my 20-minute bus commute.

我上班前在咖啡厅写生。我喜欢挑战自己，在20分钟的公交车车程上完成一本小杂志。

I do these things partly because it's fun and entertaining. But I suspect there's something deeper going on. Because when I create, I feel like it clears my head. It helps me make sense of my emotions. And it somehow, it makes me feel calmer and more relaxed.

我做这些事情部分是因为它很有趣。但我怀疑还有更深层次的原因。因为当我创作时，我觉得它让我头脑清醒。它帮助我理解我的情绪。不知怎么的，它让我感觉更平静，更放松。

That made me wonder: What is going on in my brain when I draw? Why does it feel so nice? And how can I get other people — even if they don't consider themselves artists — on the creativity train?

这让我思考:当我画画的时候，我的大脑里发生了什么?为什么感觉这么好?我怎样才能让其他人——即使他们并不认为自己是艺术家——走上创造这条路呢?

It turns out there's a lot happening in our minds and bodies when we make art.

事实证明，当我们创作艺术时，我们的思想和身体会发生很多变化。

"Creativity in and of itself is important for remaining healthy, remaining connected to yourself and connected to the world," says Christianne Strang, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Alabama Birmingham and the former president of the American Art Therapy Association.

阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校神经科学教授、美国艺术治疗协会前会长克里斯蒂安·斯特朗说:“创造力本身对于保持健康、与自己保持联系、与世界保持联系很重要。”

It helps you imagine a more hopeful future

它帮助你想象一个更有希望的未来

Art's ability to flex our imaginations may be one of the reasons why we've been making art since we were cave-dwellers, says Kaimal. It might serve an evolutionary purpose. She has a theory that art-making helps us navigate problems that might arise in the future. She wrote about this in October in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association.

凯马尔说，艺术激发我们想象力的能力可能是我们从穴居时代就开始创作艺术的原因之一。这可能是一种进化的目的。她的理论是，艺术创作可以帮助我们应对未来可能出现的问题。她在10月份的《美国艺术治疗协会杂志》上发表了相关文章。

Her theory builds off of an idea developed in the last few years — that our brain is a predictive machine. The brain uses "information to make predictions about we might do next — and more importantly what we need to do next to survive and thrive," says Kaimal.

她的理论建立在过去几年发展起来的一个想法之上——我们的大脑是一个预测机器。大脑利用“信息来预测我们下一步可能做什么——更重要的是，我们下一步需要做什么来生存和发展，”凯马尔说。

When you make art, you're making a series of decisions — what kind of drawing utensil to use, what color, how to translate what you're seeing onto the paper. And ultimately, interpreting the images — figuring out what it means.

当你创作艺术的时候，你要做一系列的决定——用什么样的画具，用什么颜色，怎样把你看到的东西转化到纸上。最后，解释这些图像，弄清楚它的意思。

"So what our brain is doing every day, every moment, consciously and unconsciously, is trying to imagine what is going to come and preparing yourself to face that," she says.

她说:“所以我们的大脑每天每时每刻都在有意识或无意识地试图想象将要发生什么，并让自己做好准备去面对。”

It activates the reward center of our brain

它激活了我们大脑的奖励中心

For a lot of people, making art can be nerve-wracking. What are you going to make? What kind of materials should you use? What if you can't execute it? What if it ... sucks?

对很多人来说，创作艺术是件伤脑筋的事。你打算做什么?你应该使用什么样的材料?如果你不能执行它怎么办?如果弄糟糕了怎么办?

Studies show that despite those fears, "engaging in any sort of visual expression results in the reward pathway in the brain being activated," says Kaimal. "Which means that you feel good and it's perceived as a pleasurable experience."

研究表明，尽管存在这些恐惧，“任何形式的视觉表达都会导致大脑中的奖赏通路被激活，”凯马尔说。“这意味着你感觉很好，这是一种愉快的体验。”

It lowers stress

它会降低压力

Although the research in the field of art therapy is emerging, there's evidence that making art can lower stress and anxiety. In a 2016 paper in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, Kaimal and a group of researchers measured cortisol levels of 39 healthy adults. Cortisol is a hormone that helps the body respond to stress.

虽然艺术治疗领域的研究正在兴起，但有证据表明，创作艺术可以降低压力和焦虑。在2016年发表于《美国艺术治疗协会杂志》的一篇论文中，凯马尔和一组研究人员测量了39名健康成年人的皮质醇水平。皮质醇是一种帮助身体应对压力的激素。

They found that 45 minutes of creating art in a studio setting with an art therapist significant lowered cortisol levels.

他们发现，在艺术治疗师的工作室里进行45分钟的艺术创作可以显著降低皮质醇水平。

The paper also showed that there were no differences in health outcomes between people who identify as experienced artists and people who don't. So that means that no matter your skill level, you'll be able to feel all the good things that come with making art.

这篇论文还表明，有经验的艺术家和没有经验的艺术家在健康状况上没有区别。这就意味着不管你的技术水平如何，你都能感受到艺术创作的美好。