Artistic expression is deeply ingrained in our biology and evolutionary development and is a crucial aspect of human existence. Breakthroughs in neuroaesthetics illustrate the transformative power of arts and aesthetics on neurobiology, impacting our physical and mental health, learning, and community building, writes Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross.

E.O. Wilson, a Harvard evolutionary biologist, once beautifully made the case that the arts are essential to the survival of the human species. Beginning with our ancestors circling together around a fire at the end of the day, he explained that they created wholly new forms of community, coming together to tell stories, sing, and dance.

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Through these creative human expressions, morals and ethical values can be considered to have developed. There were celebrations and ceremonies, rituals, and traditions. Layers of meaning-making meant that a sense of belonging emerged between individuals, families and groups. It was through these repetitive creative acts, that humans forged strong social bonds, created trusting relationships and a collective feeling of transcendence emerged.

There are still over 5,000 indigenous tribes on the planet, many of whom don’t have a word for art because it is simply entrenched in how they live. And regardless of where we are around the globe, humanity still holds the lasting desire and core need to gather and commune together, sharing our voices in what we now describe, in our modern world, as artistic expression.  

The arts and aesthetic experiences, in all their forms, have been used for many purposes – including self-expression, communication, collaboration, reflection, learning, healing and flourishing. In these moments of connection, something else happened as well. Our physiology and biology changed. Cortisol was reduced and dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin were increased.  These powerful hormones and neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that enable our bodies to reduce stress, feel a sense of reward and happiness and create strong social bonds.

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You can’t process all of the sensory stimuli that you are exposed to everyday, but the most salient information that enters your body has an unlimited capacity to change your biology and behavior.

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