The Art of Remediating Age-Related Cognitive Decline: Art Therapy Enhances Cognition and Increases Cortical Thickness in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Objective: Previous research on art therapy (AT) in cognitive aging has been lacking. AT can potentially engender significant cognitive gains, due to its rigorous cognitive involvement, making it useful to tackle age-related cognitive decline. Along with these cognitive gains, associated neuroplastic changes are hypothesized to arise from AT as well. The current intervention examined the effects of an AT intervention on cognitive outcomes and cortical thickness (CT) among participants with mild cognitive impairment. Method: Participants were assigned to AT (n = 22) and an active control group (n = 27). In both, weekly 45-min sessions were carried out across 3 months. Cognitive assessments and structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were carried out at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Whole brain analyses on CT were carried out. Cognitive outcomes were analyzed using hierarchical linear models. Results: Significant gains in immediate memory and working memory span were observed in the AT group, relative to the control group. Significantly increased CT in the AT group, relative to controls, was observed in a right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) cluster. Furthermore, CT changes in this cluster were significantly and positively correlated with changes in immediate memory. Conclusion: These findings highlighted the role of MFG neuroplasticity in enhancing certain cognitive functions in AT. AT is a neuroplastic intervention capable of engendering significant cognitive gains and associated cortical changes in the context of age-related cognitive decline, even when executed as a low-intensity intervention across 3 months. Given the preliminary nature of these findings, future larger sampled studies are needed.

Art Therapy: A Complementary Treatment for Mental Disorders

“…To date, mild cognitive impairment is drawing much attention to the importance of painting intervening at this stage in order to alter the course of subsequent cognitive decline as soon as possible (Petersen et al, 2014). Recently, a randomized controlled trial (Yu et al, 2021) showed significant relationship between improvement immediate memory/working memory span and increased cortical thickness in right middle frontal gyrus in the painting art group. With the long-term cognitive stimulation and engagement from multiple sessions of painting therapy, it is likely that painting therapy could lead to enhanced cognitive functioning for these patients.…”

Creativity across the lifespan: changes with age and with dementia

“…Whether and to what extent art-based therapy can protect against age-related cognitive decline or dementia is not yet clear as studies had only small sample sizes and low quality of study findings [ 50 ]. A recent study from Yu et al [ 51 ] points out that art-based therapy can strengthen and enhance certain cognitive functions, such as immediate memory and working memory span, and increase in cortical thickness in the middle frontal gyrus [ 51 ]. Based on our findings, we believe that people with dementia might benefit from non-verbal creative activities in an ill-defined problem space, in which they can chose a logic or association freely rather than following strict rules.…”

Virtual Art Therapy: Application of Michelangelo Effect to Neurorehabilitation of Patients with Stroke

“…Additionally, it has been found that art-based therapies and interventions can effectively be used to reduce pain, stress, depression, breathlessness and other symptoms in patients with several medical conditions [ 31 ]. Last, but not least, despite us not assessing cognitive functions, the scientific literature reports the possible use of art therapy to improve these domains [ 34 ], also reporting that some diseases may improve the personal disposition of neurological patients to produce art [ 35 ]. Further studies are needed to deeply investigate these aspects that were not evaluated in our study.…”