As workers report back to the office, children again fill classrooms, and all of us sort through the pandemic-induced trauma and stress of the past two years, it’s helpful to remember what humans across cultures have long recognized: Art and beauty go a long way to improve our mental health. During the COVID era, years […]

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 uncertainty and restrictions of daily life. While some unprecedented health effects of isolation and lockdowns, such as PTSD and loneliness, have emerged during COVID, so […]

As research grows, interest also continues to rise in psychedelic therapies as treatments for addiction and mental health conditions, including PTSD and depression. But how does the “set and setting” of a psychedelic experience affect the experience of patients receiving these treatments?  A scoping review published in 2022 from the International Arts + Mind Lab […]

With the pandemic stretching into a third year, employers are scrambling to reconfigure how and where work gets done, with more businesses returning to in-person following years of Zoom meetings and remote setups. Compared with the creature comforts and convenience of working from home, office life can appear less attractive to some. After all, at […]

As anyone who has ever 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 patients with a disabling neurological motor disorder, Parkinson’s disease (PD). Over the past three decades, researchers have begun to uncover the neural basis of […]

Despite recent controversies over which books should line the shelves of schools and libraries, there is little debate that literature expands the mind. But can the act of reading also improve our mental health and wellbeing? Researchers are investigating the impact of reading experiences and reporting evidence of promising mental and social health benefits. Whether […]

Artists across cultures and throughout history have long recognized what scientific research has only recently been able to confirm: The arts are essential to our ability to heal and thrive. The emerging field of neuroarts studies how the arts and aesthetic experiences change the brain, body, and behavior – and how this knowledge can be […]

The rapid development of safe and effective vaccines against the novel coronavirus is a remarkable feat of scientific achievement. And it’s our best shot for getting through a global pandemic. But having the vaccine is not enough if not everyone is confident enough to take it. As of September 2021, roughly 180 million Americans are […]

Around this time last year, many parents, teachers, and students ventured into the great unknown—a year of remote or hybrid learning. We fretted about learning losses from the disruptive lockdowns of spring 2020 and the many challenges ahead for navigating virtual classrooms. This year, as the U.S. attempts a return to in-person instruction amidst a […]

When you first view Norman Galinsky’s minimalistic art, you may not guess that the artist’s first career was in engineering. Ever since childhood, Galinsky’s two main passions were science and making art. Science took precedence in high school—he was a runner-up in the prestigious Westinghouse National Talent search science competition—and, at the urging of his […]