3 fascinating facts about being creative

If you're one of those who always keep doodling when having a piece of paper in front of you, or perhaps even have a hobby associated with arts, you will most likely to be happy to hear about the three facts listed below.

Making art is beneficial for those who are considered talented, and even for those who are not the masters of drawing or painting (Photo: pexels.com / rawpixel.com)

Arts and crafts have long been essential parts of the lives of humans, and it's no surprise that the way we feel, think or behave is sometimes influenced by the presence - or the lack - of arts in our everyday lives. As one study concluded, enjoying pleasant works of art reduces stress and makes people more relaxed and calm. This study published in 2016 was conducted in Italy, where the participants took time to gaze at the painted cupola of a basilica located in Piedmont province. Their levels of cortisol were significantly lower after their trip to the basilica than it was before.

It's also interesting that not only enjoying artwork has beneficial effects on our lives, but also the act of creating arts and crafts.

According to a Drexel University study published in 2017 in The Arts in Psychotherapy, our brains reward us when we are making art. For the study, the participants were asked to take three minutes to color a mandala, then to doodle within or around a circle, and finally just to draw freely.

The bloodflow in the brain's prefrontal cortex - that is associated with the regulating of our thoughts, actions and feelings, and is related to the brain's emotional and motivational systems - increased during all three activities. This might mean that people felt something like being rewarded during the doodling and drawing sessions.

Some may think that daydreaming during everyday activities - such as meetings - is a sign of a disorganized personality, but they might be completely wrong. According to a study made by researchers of Georgia Institute of Technology, and published in 2017, frequent daydreaming might be the telltale sign of creativity and intelligence. As the scientists argue, too much brain capacity may lead to daydreaming in certain people. As they noticed, people who reported more frequent daydreaming scored higher on intellectual and creative ability and researchers also measured more efficient brain systems in their case in the MRI machine.

Those who consider arts an important value in life and have high level of creative achievement are less afraid to die - at least this is what a study from University of Kent shows. The team observed a group of 108 students, who were asked to complete two questionnaires about their level of creative achievement and creative ambition. After analyzing the information provided by the questionnaires, researchers found that those who not only had a higher level of creative ambitions, but also a record of creative achievement tended to handle the topic of mortality more resiliently than those who had lower levels of creative ambition.

Anita Diós

May 2018