Art on the Brain
Unrestricted Therapeutic Art Activity for Dementia
By Elexa Waugh-Quasebarth, 2007
William Carlos Williams, the poet, wrote, “Old age that adds as it takes away.” The pervasive, degenerative effects of every form of dementia eventually manifest themselves clearly in every person these disease strike. However, perhaps as professionals and care givers for the patient afflicted with such disease, we should act as “ . . . optimistic miner[s] who believe there is a chance that within the rubble is buried something that shines and glows and is worth bringing into the light.” Through a variety of processes, we can assist patients in their journey through the disease and help find that “something” that might even be enhanced by the disease.
Creation of fine arts is one of the processes we utilize at the Adult Care Center to attempt to facilitate this journey. Therapeutic art creation has been and is further being studied in care settings for clients with dementia worldwide. The discovered positive emotional, cognitive, and social effects are striking. Personal creation of a completed product provides a sense of value and worth for the patient that is no longer respected in a society of industry and production. For a person presenting with aphasia, personal expression and communication is kept intact through a non-verbal medium. Additionally, to a person who has often been stripped of all decision-making authority it also can offer a realm in which exploration is encouraged and does not have to mold to a routine. Furthermore, creative action redirects negative emotion, reduces wandering and aids in the focus of attention and memory recall, even post-activity. Mood is generally inflated and anxiety is commonly reduced. Many of these effects may be the same brain wave present in REM. Positive emotion created in this creative, meditative state has also been linked to an increase in T cell production, aiding in the strength of immune system in the patient. Finally, in studies of caner patients, sessions in art therapy enhanced brain function, alleviated depression, reduced “tiredness,” and relieved pain. There appear to be many benefits in this unrestricted, creative expression, but is it for everyone?
Many caregivers note that the client was never artistic before the onset of the disease. Why would he or she want to create art now? The creation of artwork is generally inherent in children; however, as we age we prioritize our interests and often art is discarded and no longer studied as other subjects offer a more realistic application to most people. Therefore, people generally remain at the same level of artistic ability if never studied again, just as if one stopped reading in second grade, the person would read at a second grade level until he or she revisited it more thoroughly. Therefore, every person in capable of evolving artistically, even if it is not skilled or has not been unearthed for seventy years. Moreover, researcher have been studying some interesting aspects of creation in relation to some dementias. Some prefrontal dementia, which is different from /Alzheimer’s is being linked to an actual spark in creativity for people that have never exhibited it in the past. These people are absolutely driven to create as many amazing, creative pieces of work as possible as their brains begin to deteriorate.
Furthermore, some researchers link creation, especially in a fine arts realm, to our procedural, or instinctive, muscle memory that is not logically controlled as other activity is. This is similar to color reaction. Most people show preference to a certain family of colors. This reaction is not usually linked with a rational cognitive thought process, but is immediate urge. Therefore, basic attraction or repulsion to color and creation in some media is slower to be affected by the cognitive degeneration associated with dementia.
For more information reference our newsletter of Summer 2007
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i. Abraham, Ruth. When Words Have Lost Their Meaning. London: Praeger, 2005.