We’re on the verge of a cultural shift in which the arts can deliver potent, accessible, and proven solutions for the wellbeing of everyone. The science of neuroaesthetics offers proof of how our brains and bodies are transformed when we participate in the arts and aesthetic experience. This knowledge can improve our physical and mental health, help us learn and flourish, amplify innovation and build stronger communities. Over the last twenty years advances in technology have enabled researchers to non-invasively get inside our heads. We now know the arts alter a complex neurological network of interconnected processes including higher-order cognition such as executive function, reward, creativity, and our biological systems including immune, circulatory, and respiratory. The arts are not only our birthright--science is discovering that we are evolutionarily and physiologically wired for them.

This webinar will overview the field of neuroaesthetics, the study of how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the body, brain, and behavior and how this knowledge is translated into specific practices that advance health and wellbeing. It will provide learners with foundational underpinnings and theories of the field including the neurobiology and evolutionary basis of the arts, as well as take a deeper dive into the research through case studies from around the world.

Learning objectives:

- Understanding of the field of neuroaesthetics, the transdisciplinary study of how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the body, brain, and behavior.

- Insight on how this knowledge is translated into specific practices that advance health and wellbeing.

- Perspective on initiatives and organizations using the arts to promote health and wellbeing.

Cost: Free April 2, 2023, Noon to 1:30 p.m. Central Please contact the Bakken Center's community relations office (mindprg@umn.edu) if you require accommodations or if you have any questions.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER