Fear courses through your blood as the sounds of sniper shots surround you; the buildings you once recognized as your neighborhood are reduced to rubble on the ground. The destruction traumatizes you and your family; your children struggle to find the words to describe their feelings and regularly wake up from nightmares.  One day, an […]

The International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab) hosted its inaugural Dialog Series this spring, featuring singer/songwriter turned public health researcher Tasha Golden PhD. Dr. Golden’s workshop, Advancing Health Equity: Embracing the Creative Process to Evolve Health Research, demonstrated the value of using the arts as an innovative tool for communication, research and healing in […]

In June, a diverse group of engineers, biomedical researchers, artists and clinicians gathered in Cancun, Mexico for the 2019 International Graphonomics Conference on Mobile Brain-Body Imaging, Neuroscience of Art, Innovation and Creativity. Each year, participants gather to explore the intersection of arts and science through the lens of contemporary and portable neuroimaging. These innovative technologies, […]

The military face many health risks and challenges on the battlefield, but the scars they carry are not always visible. While physical injuries are on the decline in recent years, service members are increasingly struggling with lingering psychological tolls. More than 500,000 veterans of the U.S. military live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic […]

On Memorial Day, we honor members of the military who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our country’s liberty. We also pay homage to those who returned home bearing the scars of their heroism. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s a fitting time to acknowledge that more than 500,000 service members are living […]

The International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab) of Johns Hopkins University recently teamed up with Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHP) on an innovative new study of the therapeutic potential of virtual reality. Led by Girija Kaimal, EdD, assistant professor in CNHP’s Creative Arts Therapies Department, and Susan Magsamen, executive director […]

Music, painting, writing and other arts enrich our lives in so many ways. But they’re not only good for the soul; they can also enhance physical well-being, including heart health, and may even lower our risk of developing certain types of heart disease. These heart-healthy benefits start with a calming influence. Whether we create art […]

Author Nic Stone answers student questions about her book, “Dear Martin,” selected for the One Book Baltimore initiative.   Want students to love reading? Give them a book they can relate to. “Kids were in it from the first chapter. They didn’t want to do anything else but read,” said Tiarra Leverett, a seventh- and […]

Image:  UF Center for Arts in Medicine Healing through arts is ancient practice with innumerable applications in modern day medicine. Yet integration of the arts into contemporary healthcare has its challenges, requiring thoughtful cross-sector collaboration to shape and grow the field. With this mind, the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab) at Johns Hopkins […]

Seven service members, all diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from combat, sat at the psychotherapy group table, creating symbols of themselves out of clay on a fabric placemat to keep their workspace clean. During the verbal processing part of the group, each participant described what he made; symbols that ranged from flat hearts to […]