Publishers Weekly
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Art will heal what ails you, according to this scattershot treatise on aesthetics and well-being. Johns Hopkins neurologist Magsamen (Family Stories) and Ross, Google’s vice president of hardware design, draw on scientific studies to explain how making and appreciating art, music, dance, theater, and writing affect the brain and promote health. Some of the applications the authors highlight intrigue, such as the success of dance classes in helping Parkinson’s patients improve movement and singing classes in hastening new mothers’ recovery from postpartum depression. Other benefits are more modest and unsurprising: adult coloring books reduce stress and anxiety, and group dancing fosters social bonding. There’s disappointingly sparse insight on neuroscience, as well. For instance, when the authors note that “poetry activates brain areas such as the posterior cingulate cortex and medial temporal lobes,” which “intensify emotions,” the unsurprising takeaway is that poetry elicits an emotional response. Elsewhere, the scientific discussions sometimes edge toward new age mysticism, as when the authors write that the “notes C and G... resonate with the Earth’s core frequency and are known to be soothing vibrations.” This somewhat obvious brief comes up short. Photos. (Mar.)

Library Journal
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Founder of the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Magsamen joins with Google designer Ross to explain how we react biologically to a striking painting or ravishing piece of music. And that, in turn, reveals how art can help us heal from trauma. Welcome to the exciting new science of neuroaesthetics.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A useful guide to the science behind why the arts are fundamental to our physical and emotional health. Magsamen, a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Ross, a vice president of design at Google, introduce readers to an emerging scientific field known as neuroaesthetics, using fascinating case studies to demonstrate how the arts have lasting benefits for our mental and physical health. In fact, approaching everyday life with an “aesthetic mindset” can change our very physiology, literally rewiring our brains. Chronic pain, for example, can be managed by dance, while those who “engage in arts and cultural activities have a lower risk of developing chronic pain as they age.” The authors also show how new parents recovering from postpartum depression feel better faster by the simple act of humming. Perhaps most shockingly, “people who engage in the arts every few months, such as going to the theatre or to a museum, have a 31 percent lower risk of dying early when compared with those who don’t.” Alongside the case studies, Magsamen and Ross present many accessible methods to bring the arts into your life, showing readers how to create a habit of participating in the arts just as you would follow a workout schedule. They analyze a variety of artistic mediums that provide benefits for the brain, including poetry, music, painting, and even doodling. “Art and science together are potent medicine,” they write, “capable of radically transforming our physical health.” From young children to adults with Alzheimer’s, the arts can improve and even extend our lives. This fascinating account of the science behind this phenomenon will inspire readers to establish their own concrete plans to incorporate as much art into their lives as possible. Regularly engaging with the arts can make you live longer, and this absorbing book explains how. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

The arts bring joy, improve lives, and heal bodies and minds. In fact, their transformative power is so strong that health-care workers are prescribing museum visits, and researchers are studying the “neuro-arts,” note the enthusiastic authors, Magsamen from the International Arts + Mind Lab at the Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at Johns Hopkins, and Ross, vice president of design for the hardware product area at Google. They convincingly proselytize about the value of the arts and nature, “the most aesthetic of places.” Add more natural light and greenery to one’s surroundings. A study found that patients who had windows with a view of nature had shorter hospital stays and took fewer pain medications. The arts have always helped people communicate, express feelings and beliefs, innovate, make tools, and solve problems, playing a key role in humanity’s vitality. To get the most from the arts, the authors write, be a curious, playful explorer who pays attention to all five senses. And remember, not everyone perceives and responds to the arts in the same way. “One person’s cacophony is another person’s symphony,” write Magsamen and Ross. Hear, hear!