Do You See What I See?: The Possibilities of Pareidolia Research Pareidolia may foster creativity and flexibility, and help us adapt to challenges. Key points Pareidolia is recognizing patterns, like faces, in random stimuli, aiding survival and creativity. Research links pareidolia to neural activity, creativity, and cognitive flexibility. Tests using pareidolia-induced images may […] Read More How Improvisational Movement and Dance Affect the Brain: A Q&A With Wake Forest Researchers Christina Hugenschmidt, PhD, and Christina Soriano New research shows great potential for improvisational movement to help older adults and individuals with perceived memory loss and neurodegeneration; benefits include improved balance, improved balance confidence, and improved mood. […] Read More How Dance Can Relieve Stress and Help Us Reconnect With Community During COVID-19 As mental health issues increased in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in art-making has also expanded — offering ways for us to creatively cope with the new […] Read More In Rhythm With Nature: A Digital Wellbeing Experiment in Collaboration With Google Arts & Culture IAM Lab is proud to partner with Google Arts & Culture and Google’s Wellbeing Lab in a digital wellbeing experiment called “In Rhythm With Nature”, inspired by the flower clock […] Read More Why a Dose of Nature Is Essential to Your Mental Health When was the last time you went out and soaked up some nature? Even in pre-pandemic times, most American adults spent 93% of their time indoors. Now, with social distancing […] Read More Reading Fiction May Improve Real-Life Relationships Great literature can transport us to times and places outside our own existence. As we turn each page, the characters and plots become more and more real to us. This […] Read More Bringing Harmony to the Brain: The Neuroscience of Music and Parkinson’s Disease As anyone who has heard “their song” can attest, the right music has the power to make you move. Now healthcare providers are trying to harness this power to help […] Read More How Time in Nature Boosts Learning in the Classroom Even a little nature could go a long way to help students. Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on August 22, 2019. As summer fades, you can almost hear the collective sigh of children marching back into the confines of the […] Read More How the Great Outdoors Improves Mental Health Mother nature knows best. Our society’s rapid pace of life and addiction to digital technology have created a stress epidemic in the 21st century. But there may be another major contributing factor: chronic nature […] Read More Music and the Brain: A Discussion with Legendary Jazz Guitarist Pat Metheny at SfN Dialogues Between Neuroscience and Society Panel on Music and the Brain. Pictured from left to right: Charles Limb, Pat Metheny and Richard Huganir. The 2018 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting […] Read More More → Join the neuroaesthetics conversation: Subscribe here | Support our work: Donate here