Patricia Casey
Art has a role in the lives of ordinary people trying to preserve their health and happiness
THIS missive from Rome is timely. I have been giving some talks here, but also taking advantage of the beauty that is ubiquitous in the Eternal City. Every church is an art gallery, full of wonderful paintings that we can only dream about having in ours, and the galleries themselves are palatial and heavenly.
The Vatican Museums alone take several hours to navigate, while the Villa Borghese and the Barberini are beyond description in their beauty. Then, on to Venice and Bologna where more feasts for the eye await.
I have always loved galleries – the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, and in London, the Portrait and National Galleries, to name but two.
On the free tours there, people talk to each other as they traverse the floors between one room and another, to see a Canaletto in one, a Van Gogh in the next. The guides encourage us to reflect on the paintings imaginatively and intuitively.
One is left with a greater understanding of the subjects in the paintings and a sense of enrichment. The art stimulates the senses and the imagination and rests the pent-up mind. It is a paced, gentle activity and should not be seen as a marathon or an endurance test.
Is it any surprise then that neuroscientists, for the past decade, have been examining the contribution that art might make to our brain functioning? There is now some evidence that visiting museums, including art galleries, is beneficial to brain function.
A study published in the ‘British Journal of Psychiatry’ asked if regular visits to museums, including art galleries, helped prevent dementia. This is an important question as Europe faces an ageing population who are thus at risk of this devastating condition. An increase would require a dramatic increase in residential homes for this group of people as well as posing a huge burden on state’s finances, so any activity that could potentially reduce this risk is worthy of consideration.
The research was headed by Dr Daisy Fancourt, from the Department of Behavioural Science at University College London, and funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of the National Study of Ageing.
It studied almost 4,000 people over the age of 50. None had dementia at baseline.
They were asked if they visited museums, art galleries and exhibitions and how often each year. They were then interviewed again, 10 years later. At that point, dementia was diagnosed either by a doctor or by a questionnaire developed for that purpose.
In the statistical analysis, account was taken of the age, educational attainments, mental and physical health of the participants and whether they were members of social, political, church or other community groups.
The results showed that 6.3pc of the participants developed the condition during the study period. One third of the subjects never attended a museum, while almost one in five did so every few months or more often.
When the other factors were taken into account, those visiting galleries most frequently were significantly less likely to develop dementia than those attending less frequently.
The same researchers published another study published in ‘Scientific Reports’, also in July 2018, on the same population. This was an expanded study also examining other cultural activities that included museums but also opera, theatre, concerts and movies. They found that going to the movies had little impact on preserving one’s cognitive capacity, while all the other cultural activities did.
The authors speculate that the sensory stimulation and cognitive engagement required made these activities a method for maintaining cognitive reserve as age increased. Visiting museums and galleries was also a form of light physical activity that would reduce the negative effects of sedentary behaviour.
These outlets also increased social engagement, reduced isolation and might also be a focal point for meeting friends and like-minded people.
Clearly, further studies are required in which individuals are actively assigned to these cultural activities and others are not. This type of intervention study would increase the certainty of benefit or, alternatively, disprove it.
Despite the early state of this research, the idea that art can help older people has been taken on board by the Manchester Museum and Whitworth Art Gallery. They now offer art programmes, called Coffee, Cake and Culture events, for older people and for those with dementia in collaboration with the Dementia Ageing Research and Training Centre at the University of Manchester.
It is very rewarding to know that high art isn’t some inaccessible indulgence for the rich and educated but has a role in the lives of ordinary people trying to preserve their health and happiness into ripe old age. The arts are for everybody.
The researchers found that when other factors that might influence dementia were taken into account, those visiting galleries most frequently were significantly less likely to develop dementia than those attending less frequently