Creative hobbies keep the brain young, study finds — here are the best ones to pursue

A large-scale international review discovered that creative programs such as music dance painting and even certain video games may help keep the brain biologically younger Researchers from countries including teams at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland and SWPS University in Poland analyzed brain evidence from more than adults of all ages worldwide and revealed that those who regularly pursue creative hobbies show brain patterns that appear younger than their actual age Even short bursts of creative activity such as a limited weeks of strategy-based video gaming had noticeable benefits according to the survey which was published in the journal Nature Communications in October KEY BEHAVIORS THAT COULD SHIELD YOUR BRAIN FROM PARKINSON S DISEASEScientists collected brain information from people with advanced experience in tango music visual art and strategy gaming but they also recruited non-experts for comparison In addition a third group of beginners underwent short-term training in StarCraft II a strategy video event so researchers could see how learning a new creative skill affects the brain over just a sparse weeks All participants underwent EEG and MEG brain scans that were fed into machine-learning brain age models or brain clocks which estimate how old the brain appears biologically versus chronologically Researchers then used advanced computer models to explore why creativity might protect the brain and uncovered that the hobbies help strengthen the networks responsible for coordination attention movement and problem-solving which can weaken with age SCIENTISTS UNCOVER HOW CHOSEN -YEAR-OLDS HAVE THE MEMORY OF -YEAR-OLDSPeople with years of creative practice exhibited the strongest reductions in brain age but even beginners saw improvements with strategy games boosting brain-age markers after roughly hours of training One of our key takeaways is that you do not need to be an expert to benefit from creativity Dr Carlos Coronel first author and postdoctoral fellow at the Global Brain Soundness Institute Trinity College Dublin and Universidad Adolfo Ibanez revealed in a report Indeed we discovered that learners gained from brief video tournament training sessions According to the researchers this was the first large-scale evidence directly linking multiple creative fields to slower brain aging though previous research has linked creativity to improved mood and well-being BRAIN AGING MAY SLOW WITH GREEN TEA WALNUTS AND TINY SWAMP PLANT EVALUATION FINDS Creativity emerges as a powerful determinant of brain strength comparable to exercise or diet senior author Dr Agustin Ibanez of Trinity College Dublin declared in a announcement Our results open new avenues for creativity-based interventions to protect the brain against aging and condition Dr Aneta Brzezicka of SWPS University added that the findings suggest that creative pastimes should be incorporated into educational and healthcare programs as tools to endorsement brain vitality TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZThe scrutiny also revealed that brain clocks a relatively new tool gaining steam in neuroscience can be used to monitor interventions aimed at improving brain wellbeing Ibanez reported The researchers cautioned however that the results are early and come with caveats including that the greater part participants were healthy adults multiple subgroups were small and the review didn't track people long-term to see whether younger-looking brains indeed lead to lower dementia danger or better daily functioning CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER The brain clock in preliminary studies shows promise and accounts for the diversity of the factors that can contribute to that wide disparity between our brain age and chronological age Dr Jon Stewart Hao Dy a board-certified adult neurologist from the Philippines described Fox News Digital However it's critical for the society to know that brain robustness is influenced by a multitude of factors that cause a wide brain age gap added Dy who was not involved in the research CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIESCreative people often have other advantages the researchers noted such as higher development robust social lives and better access to arts and sessions and the research couldn't fully separate those factors from the effects of creativity itself Evidence shows that dancing painting pottery embroidery and even museum visits confer the greatest neuroprotection in preserving cognition and improving cognitive function in older adults Dy commented and he agreed that the science is strong enough to justify action It's a matter of translating it into general framework that will fund and encouragement these programs The work which was funded by academic and masses research bodies will now be followed by more comprehensive studies that add other creative fields and link brain-age measures to real-world outcomes such as memory thinking skills and infection pitfall Fox News Digital has reached out to the investigation authors for comment