Attention and Art--A Connection?

Attention May Link Arts and Intelligence


By Aalok Mehta

About Aalok Mehta

May 11, 2009

Arts training can cause dramatic changes in the brain, including possibly strengthening the “attention network,” a series of regions linked to general intelligence, scientists have discovered.



The experts speaking at the “Learning, Arts and the Brain” educational summit this past week said evidence is growing that skills built practicing the arts can cross into other mental domains. The event, held May 6 at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, was hosted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education and sponsored in part by the Dana Foundation.



During the summit, neuroscientists, educators and arts advocates learned the latest science on how practice in the arts affects the brain, as well as how art education is currently practiced in various public schools. The more than 300 people attending then discussed in small groups and a full forum how best to apply the science to improve teaching and learning in the schools and which directions researchers should follow next.



The research presented at the forum builds on previous studies, including the work of the seven groups of scientists involved in the Dana Arts & Cognition consortium, that shows tight correlations between artistic endeavors and cognitive abilities. The new findings—especially how effective attention training can be in classroom settings—also offer insight into potential new teaching methods for younger students.



When children underwent simple, interactive attention training, “not only did attention improve, but also generalized parts of intelligence related to fluid intelligence and IQ increased,” said Michael Posner, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon.







Michael Posner

Posner’s work builds upon surveys and tests of children that found that brain scans of those who exhibit high levels of “effortful control,” or self-regulation—the ability to avoid distraction and focus on a single task—show greater activity in their attention network.

This finding offers a tentative explanation for common anecdotal reports that academic performance improves in schools that boost their arts programs, he said. Different art forms, such as music or dance, activate quite distinct neural networks. But if kids remain open to the experience and stay interested, all the art forms seem to interact with the attention network.



“If we are able to engage children in an art form for which their brain is prepared, and they have an openness and creativity, we can train them in this and see improvement in attention, as well as intelligence and cognition in general,” Posner said.



“Performance or practice of any of the art forms changes the neural networks performing that art form. There is very little dispute about the existence of these networks and that they change with practice,” he added. “Years of neuroimaging have now given us a plausible or putative mechanism by which arts training could now influence cognition, including attention and IQ.”



Musical training alters brain connections

Gottfried Schlaug, who is helping conduct a study comparing children who took up an instrument with children who didn’t, echoed Posner’s comments. Using diffusion tensor imaging, a brain scanning method that can map the white-matter connections among brain areas, he found that musical training can quickly produce significant changes in children’s brains. Just 15 months of training, for instance, caused thickening of the fibers in finger-movement areas and sound-processing areas, as well as increased activity in the temporal lobe, frontal lobe and cerebellum.



“Already the initial data we have show profound changes,” said Schlaug, a neurology professor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston. “This is the first study that shows brain plasticity in young children as a function of instrumental music instruction, and this is correlated with the amount of practice.” The research was reported March 11 in the Journal of Neuroscience.



Many of these regions are related to tasks important to math and other subjects, he added, pointing out specifically the inferior frontal gyrus. "Math and music activate some of the same areas," he said. But in the first 15 months of the study’s data, the results show only near transfer, or improvement in brain functions directly associated with music. The researchers did not see evidence of far transfer, or better performance on distantly related abilities such as mental rotation and geometric ability in the first year and a half of training. But the study continued for four years, and the scientists are still analyzing the final years of data.



“Is there going to be far transfer later on or not? We don’t know,” said Schlaug’s study colleague Ellen Winner, a psychology professor at Boston College. It may be that the researchers’ tests were not sensitive enough to detect small improvements, she said The study also is “messy,” she said, with half the participants eventually dropping out.







Elizabeth Spelke



However, Elizabeth Spelke, a psychology professor at Harvard University, offered another indication that such far transfer occurs, at least for music and math.



Previously, she had discovered that math skill is not one single thing, but rather revolves around three abilities, recognizing objects, numerical sense and geometrical sense. Spelke also had found that children with moderate or intense music training—but not just a little training—showed “small but reliable increases” only on abilities revolving around geometry.



Now she and colleagues have demonstrated that even 4-month-olds seem to inherently connect geometry with sound. The infants learned to associate long tones with long cartoon worms and short tones with short worms, but they never could figure out a situation in which the tone and image did not match. . Likewise, the infants associated high-pitched tones with worms placed at the top of a screen, and low-pitched tones with worms on the bottom of the screen, but not the incongruent situations. "From the beginning of life, if an infants hears music, the melodic processing may lead to new forms of visual processing," Spelke said. "This may form the basis for the relationship between math and music later on."



“This [result] is enough of a possibility that it gives us another reason to pursue an arts curriculum,” Spelke said.



Brian Wandell, a Stanford University psychology and electrical engineering professor, outlined studies that mapped white matter, the fibers connecting different areas of the brain. His and others’ work has shown the importance of the corpus callosum for phonological awareness, a key skill in reading, he said. And new work shows that fibers connecting two specific parts of the parietal lobe, the anterior superior and longitudinal fasciculus, are very specific to a person’s accuracy at approximating numbers. This was true only in the left hemisphere and did not hold true for adjacent fiber bundles. "These are the parts of the brain we might focus on during training studies," he said.



"We're hoping these kinds of studies can inform you when you ask your questions," about where researchers should focus their work to best help teachers, he told the audience.





Researcher Elizabeth Spelke, left, and educator Alice Wilder ("Blues Clues," "SuperWhy!') participate in small-group discussions on what questions researchers should try to answer about the effect of arts and practicing the arts on the brain and cognition during the Learning, Arts, and the Brain conference at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore on May 6, 2009.

Art Therapy Verses Psychotherapy

Maureen Del Giacco, PhD, LCAT

Before I provide case studies I think it would be a great idea for you all to learn more about the application discussed herein. This way the case studies will make more sense as you read them. What follows below is an explaination of the "DAT" process. Then I will begin to post case studies each week via this blog.


Art Therapy is coming into its own these days. A brief search of the Internet will demonstrate this fact. Using the Arts in Psychotherapy is an emerging field that has gained national and international acceptance. What is not as well known is how the Specialty of Del Giacco Neuro Art Therapy (DAT)—when combined with neuroscience findings—is of value to many people with a wide variety of problems.

The specialty of Del Giacco Neuro Art Therapy (DAT) offers all of the components of Psychotherapy and Art Therapy, but is designed to be supported by neuroscience's views of neuroplasticity. One could argue that all therapeutic processes are supported by neuroplasticity. However, the DAT process is designed to have direct effects on the primary brain regions that deal with emotion and cognition.

For example, DAT can help with numerous types of developmental and psychological issues such as Anxiety Disorders, Major Depression, and PTSD. DAT can just as effectively have immediate effects on Attention Deficit Disorder and Learning Disabilities. Clients with PTSD can connect to their traumatic experience and express themselves easily. Another example would be someone with a learning disability after using the DAT process—they may suddenly spark into a level of attention that was not possible prior to using the DAT method.

In addition, many neurologically based problems can be helped with the DAT process. Some of these are: traumatic brain injury, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and brain tumors. One such client with Alzheimer’s disease had been functioning at lower levels of consciousness until after a few therapeutic sessions. Then, the client seemed to wake-up.

He became more aware.

His thinking became clearer.

He started to interact socially.

He became more aware of his environment.

His quality of life improved slowly.

The DAT method is designed to specifically work within the limbic system

This type of work is done for three reasons:
to rebuild brain pathways;

to relieve stress; and,

to provide cognitive rehabilitation.

Each of these brain functions are believed to occur within the anatomy of the Limbic System. There are several major components to the Limbic System and other less known sub-systems. In this article I will discuss two parts of the limbic system: the amygdala and the hippocampus.

The amygdala

The amygdala is known for the part it plays in our emotions and the hippocampus is acknowledged for its involvement with memory. Both the amygdala and the hippocampus are dependent on sensory processing and decoding information occurring properly; however, if these two parts of the brain become compromised either from long-term stress or disease, then chemical changes that damage neural networks occur. As the brains chemical processing becomes altered, so does the anatomy of the limbic system. Perhaps, it is then that the way we experience ourselves and the way we know the world can seem to change. For example, in depressed people the hippocampus has been shown to shrink 10 to 20 percent. These changes can also lead to negative effects on memory and the inability to handle everyday stress. (Taming Stress )



The hippocampus

In the case of Alzheimer’s disease the hippocampus is the first area to experience negative anatomical changes. When changes to the hippocampus occur the person is less likely to comprehend shapes, learning becomes problematic, and memory problems are not far behind. Needless to say, while these negative anatomical and chemical changes are occurring stress roars its ugly head and gains our awareness by causing anxiety to occur more frequently. At this stage, we may visit a doctor and they may recommend medication to help us cope.


Each DAT therapeutic application is designed to work specifically within the limbic system

Since we know that sensory processing occurs within the limbic system and that neuroplasticity encourages the act of regeneration, it would follow that using sensory stimuli via color, visual/motor, and spatial exercises would help to rehabilitate the hippocampus’ ability to grow and change in shape, helping the brain to generate new pathways.

As an example for the use of spatial exercises in rehabilitation, Neuro-surgeon Dr. Mark, Vernon designed abstract shapes as cognitive rehabilitation exercises and mentioned that the visual spatial exercises were helpful for memory restoration. (Brain Power: A Neurosurgeon's Complete Program to Maintain and Enhance Brain Fitness Throughout Your Life )


Involving the limbic system can increase attention and IQ

In addition, Dr. Richard Haier a psychiatrist from the University of Irvin completed several complex visual spatial clinical studies incorporating visual complex motor tasks. These clinical studies demonstrated increased involvement in the limbic system in the areas connecting to attention. Plus, a significant increase in IQ was noted for successful participants.

Motor functions are used to solve complex visual spatial problems

Although Haier’s studies were done within the context of a video game, the study also documents the use of graphic arts. Additionally, the participants of the study used motor functions to solve complex visual spatial problems. The geometric designs had color and shape that required deciphering placement in a space for accuracy. ( Regional glucose metabolic changes after learning a complex visuospatial/motor task: a positron emission tomographic study Intelligence and Changes in Regional Cerebral Glucose Metabolic Rate Following Learning.)

The graphic arts in Haier's study used shape, color, and visual/motor movement in the same manner that we use them in the DAT process. Therefore, it could be concluded that Haier's study inadvertently provided us with important information for the DAT Neuro Art Therapy method. I believe, when we are using our hands in an exercise and requesting the brain to translate the meaning of shapes we stimulate the limbic system and that may be a significant reason for the amount of changes occurring in limbic system during these studies.

In the writings related to neuroplasticity, we are shown that changes in the brain can occur with repeated use of sensory stimuli.

The DAT Neuro Art Therapy process is designed to work within the areas of the brain that are initially affected by stress and memory loss they are the amygdala and hippocampus.

The benefits from DAT are accomplished by using stimuli from color, abstract designs for complex mental processing, and visual /motor movement to help more parts of the brain become involved in the overall recovery process it would follow that Del Giacco Neuro Art Therapy when used in a developmental approach, would be of more significant benefit to those who need psychotherapy and memory rejuvenation.

The applications of the DAT approach vary from client to client and therapist to therapist.

The process is flexible and highly adaptable to each person's needs.


Bibliography


Taming Stress

A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain

How to Heal with Color

Toward a Psychology of Art: Collected Essays

Visual Thinking

The Power of Color: How It Can Reduce Fatigue, Relieve Monotony; Enhance Sexuality and More

Light Years Ahead: The Illustrated Guide to Full Spectrum and Colored Light in Mindbody Healing

Del Giacco Art Therapy: A Missing Link in Cognitive Rehabilitation for the Neurologically Impaired

Del Giacco Neuro Art Therapy Kit: Cognitive Rehabilitation Using a Specific Arts Based Method.

Cognition: Introduction to Cognition, Second Edition. Glass, A. and Holyoak, K, New York, New York: Newberry Award Records Inc., Random House, 1986.

Brain Power: A Neurosurgeon's Complete Program to Maintain and Enhance Brain Fitness Throughout Your Life.

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness.

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Multimodal Approach to Creative Art Therapy

Clinical Art Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide

Regional glucose metabolic changes after learning a complex visuospatial/motor task: a positron emission tomographic study Intelligence and Changes in Regional Cerebral Glucose Metabolic Rate Following Learning.



© Maureen Del Giacco, Ph. D., LCAT

A Neuro Art Therapy Method

Hello, my name is Maureen Del Giacco and I am writing this blog to share my experience of becoming a licensed creative arts therapist who practices a specialty in the field of art therapy coined "DAT" or the Del Giacco Neuro Art Neuro Therapy method.   Each week I will be sharing case studies and letting you have some of the wonderful experiences that I and my graduates have using the "DAT" method.  I will also be shaing important links and more.  My goal is to raise the conciousness of the consumer so they can understand how important this therapy can be to those with brain injury, and many other types of deficits. You have a right to know your choices. 

For example when a mother brings her son of 24 years to me crying and asking me to help him in ways that no one else has been able to all his life this is not unusual. What is remarkable is seeing this young man change for the better- cognitivly" in 5 short weeks because of "DAT" method and a speed of mental processing exercise preformed in a developmental fashion. It would be enough to motivate anyone to try and tell as many people as possible to use this therapy.

For me, it has been 17 years of miracles such as this happening, and happening again and again. Not only from myself and my clients, but, for the professionals that I trained around the world and for their clients. Thousands of clients have benfited from a specific method using the DAT arts based process for cognitive relabilitaion.

For these people we perserve, for them I tell my story.