IAM Lab News and Stories How Listening to Music May Ease Traumatic Stress When our lives are disrupted by the stress of a traumatic experience, like the pandemic, our mental health can be compromised. The constant disruption in our routines, the possibility or reality of loved ones becoming ill, the potential exposure to a life-threatening virus and the overall uncertainty of the situation makes it difficult for the […] Read More How Students Can Use Expressive Writing to Navigate Uncertainty It’s a tough time to be a senior, whether you’re in the golden years of life or just trying to graduate from high school or college. Students are missing out on milestones they’ve eagerly anticipated for most of their lives—commencement ceremonies, proms, awards banquets and celebrations with friends. Many students spent years preparing for their […] Read More Can a Jam Session Help Healthcare Workers Battle Burnout? The COVID-19 pandemic has strained the entire healthcare system and the first responders treating those who fall ill. Even before the outbreak, half of all doctors and a third of nurses in the United States experienced symptoms of burnout, which the World Health Organization (WHO) defines as “a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that […] Read More Let’s Get Physical: Dancing to Support Family Fitness at Home Millions of families are adjusting to a new normal of stay-at-home life. COVID-19 has changed how we learn and work and interrupted our routines for recreation and leisure time, too. For adults, gyms and fitness centers are closed. Children and youth are missing out on physical education, recess and after-school sports and activities. In many […] Read More How Storytime Builds Resilient, Young Minds Parents likely have a range of feelings (maybe all in the same hour) about being home with their children. While the extra time together is invaluable, it can be stressful to take care of the kids and juggle work along with the overall uncertainty that the pandemic brings. Parents of preschoolers, in particular, may worry […] Read More Art Activities Can Be a Lifeline for Lonely Seniors Even before the coronavirus pandemic, older adults were at risk for social isolation and loneliness. Because the elderly are more vulnerable to COVID-19, they are wisely being asked to stay in their homes, retirement centers, and nursing facilities, reducing their potential exposure to the virus. But with restrictions on their movements as well as visits […] Read More IAM Lab Launches COVID-19 NeuroArts Field Guide As we grapple with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are making and appreciating art as a way to cope, renew and restore. People adjusting to life on lockdown have intuitively turned to the arts in every form—drawing, writing, singing, dancing, baking, crafting and more. Research is proving that the arts are […] Read More A Global Call to Art: The COVID-19 Archives The latest ideas from around the world on how to stay home, stay healthy and make the most of the arts for wellbeing. Last updated: August 9, 2020. MUSEUMS Visit the first COVID Art Museum on Instagram Wander through over 2,000 museums and archives View the transient sand sculptures of Japan’s Sand Museum Become a […] Read More The Arts Can Liberate Us from Loneliness For many people, Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate their bond with their loved one with cards and candy and champagne. But for too many others, the day can be a painful reminder of their isolation. This is not a rare burden. A 2020 survey conducted by the health insurer Cigna found that 3 […] Read More Dialog Series: How Creative Forces Work Together to Heal the Military Using the Arts Following an improvised explosive device detonation during a military mission, Captain Luis Avila was left paralyzed and unable to speak. With intensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and music therapy, Avila began his recovery. The music therapy provided by the Creative Forces program proved to be an essential rehabilitation tool and helped Avila regain […] Read More ← Back More → Join the neuroaesthetics conversation. Subscribe here.
