Art and Cultural Engagement Can Slow the Pace of Aging: Report

A new study published in the journal Innovation in Aging suggests that engaging with art and culture can help slow down the biological clock and improve overall health.

As reported in the Guardian, the UK-based study’s “results demonstrate the health impact of the arts at a biological level.” That’s according to Daisy Fancourt, lead author of the study and the head of the social biobehavioral research group at University College London, who added: “They provide evidence for arts and cultural engagement to be recognised as a health-promoting behaviour in a similar way to exercise.”

The paper accompanying the study reads, “Arts and cultural engagement (ACEng) is increasingly recognised as a health behaviour in its own right, comprising diverse ‘active ingredients’ that are beneficial to health (e.g., social interaction, cognitive stimulation, multi-sensory stimulation, creativity, etc.) and activating complex psychological, biological, social and behavioural mechanisms of action that relate to mental and physical health outcomes.”

So-called ACEng was assessed by measuring participation in four kinds of activities: “1) participatory arts (e.g., singing, dancing, painting, photographing, crafting), 2) receptive arts (e.g., attending art exhibitions/events), 3) visiting heritage sites (e.g., historic parks, historic buildings, monuments), 4) other cultural activities (e.g., going to museums, libraries or archives).”

Slower aging does not necessarily equate to longer life. As the Guardian notes, “The ‘epigenetic clocks’ used in the study to assess biological ageing are predictive of future morbidity and mortality, and previous studies have suggested a link between arts engagement and longer lifespan, but much more research would be needed to establish potential causal effects on longevity.”

But would-be culture vultures who “take part in artistic pursuits” at least once a week showed signs of a four-percent slowdown in aging, while those who do so once a month slowed by three percent.

Compared to relaxing, the paper says, “listening to music upregulates genes involved in processes such as dopamine secretion, enhanced synaptic function, and neurogenesis.” Different kinds of culture also allow for social identifications that “can be crucial to psychological processes of stress-buffering, coping, and resilience. Even when leisure is not overtly social, it can bring personal identities as being part of a collective that does that activity (e.g., ‘runner’ or ‘artist’).”

Further study is encouraged by the authors of the paper, who wrote: “The evidence provides a scientific basis for integrating arts and cultural activities into public health frameworks and individual health behaviours, presenting an accessible and enriching pathway to healthy ageing.”