New research showing that a rich cultural life brings brings similar benefits to exercise shows human creativity in a new light
I
s it really news that the arts are good for you? On one level, the findings of a new study about the health benefits of engaging with music, dance and other artistic endeavours confirm what many of us feel instinctively that we already know. Creativity enhances life. That’s why people admire and cherish it, in others and – if they have the confidence – in themselves.
But the results of one of the first attempts by researchers to quantify this benefit are fascinating all the same. The study, from a group of scientists at University College London, working with blood samples and survey data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, showed that people who participated regularly in the arts aged more slowly than those who did not.
The benefits were found both among people who attended concerts or exhibitions and among those who sang in choirs or painted pictures themselves. Those who undertook an arts activity at least weekly were, on average, a year younger biologically than those who did so rarely. The effects were more pronounced in middle-aged and older adults, and in those who were involved in more than one type of activity.
