Art therapy has 2 components:
a) production of art pieces, which requires
– the need to visualize what the final product will look like
– the need to make judgment calls
– the need to remember the design in one‘s short term memory
– the need to plan out intermediate steps
b) art evaluation as in examining art work in galleries, which requires one to imagine the thoughts and feelings of the artist.
A study was done on elderly who already have early signs pointing towards dementia, called mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Intervention by repetitive execution of certain tasks can produce some improvement in brain intellectual function. But that is a boring activity.
Hence art therapy was tested as to its effect on age-related decline in intellectual functioning.
Out of 376 elderly aged 60 to 85 years old recruited from the community, only 49 met the criteria of the study and were prepared to participate. 22 were allocated to the Art Therapy (AT) group, and 27 to the Active Control (AC) group.
For both groups, the intervention lasted 3 months. There were 12 sessions on a weekly basis, each lasting about 45 minutes. The AT group had 6 “art making and sharing” sessions interspersed with 6 art gallery visits.
The control group received healthy lifestyle talks in a community location.
Tests were done before and after the 12 weeks of activity for both groups. They included:
– brain MRI for the thickness of the grey matter of the brain
– memory tests
The results showed that the AT group had significant gains in their immediate memory and working memory, compared to the control group. In addition, the thickness of the grey matter of the brain also increased in the AT group.
However, the researchers concluded that future larger samples are needed, for more conclusive results.
This research paper is housed in the Mind Science Centre of National University of Singapore.
Junhong Yu et al: The art of remediating age-related cognitive decline: art therapy enhances cognition and increases cortical thickness in mild cognitive impairment.
Art in feature picture by Yip Yew Chong
lingsinglin
Dr Ling Sing Lin is a medical doctor by training. She worked in MOH HQ for many years, in policy making and administrative positions, until her retirement.
