HoldsUp

DavidPerlmutterMD · 2024-01-29 · David Perlmutter (host), Susan Magsamen, Ivy Ross

Your Brain on Art: The Science of Creativity and Neurological Health | Ivy Ross & Susan Magsamen

24 research-tied claims examined: 6 overstated 5 context 8 supported 5 unverified

6

Overstated

0:13:23David Perlmutter (host)overstatedlow

Clinical and real-world trials of the Apollo Neuro device demonstrate up to a 40% reduction in stress and anxiety.

"And across the research, the wearers of this device have experienced up to a 40% reduction in stress and feelings of anxiety" (said at 0:13:23)

The claim asserts that clinical and real-world trials of the Apollo Neuro wearable device demonstrate up to a 40% reduction in stress and feelings of anxiety. Published peer-reviewed research on the Apollo Neuro device is extremely limited. A 2025 prospective randomized controlled study in medical and pharmacy students (n=66) found that 12 weeks of device use led to significant reductions in student burnout and improvements in overall wellbeing compared to waitlist control, but did not report a 40% reduction in stress or anxiety (PMID: 40816518). Furthermore, a 2025 study evaluating the Apollo Neuro device in patients undergoing ketamine-assisted therapy found no statistically significant difference in GAD-7 anxiety score changes between Apollo Neuro users and controls after propensity-score balancing (PMID: 41082834). While real-world commercial marketing claims often cite up to 40% stress reduction, peer-reviewed clinical trial data does not establish this specific magnitude or reliable anxiety reduction.

0:13:54David Perlmutter (host)overstatedvery low

Research on the Apollo Neuro device shows wearers experience up to 19% more time in deep sleep.

"up to 19% more time in deep sleep" (said at 0:13:54)

Peer-reviewed research evaluating the Apollo Neuro wearable device and sleep architecture does not show a verified 19% increase in deep (slow-wave) sleep. A retrospective observational study of 935 users wearing both the Apollo Neuro device and an Oura Ring found that device usage was associated with an increase in total sleep time (adding up to 36 minutes in short sleepers) and a higher proportion of time spent in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep at the expense of light sleep, rather than an increase in deep sleep.

0:16:32Susan Magsamenoverstatedmoderate

Research by Assal Habibi at the University of Southern California demonstrated that arts/music training alters brain structure and increases brain mass.

"we've also seen some beautiful work by Assal Habibi from University of Southern California looking at literally changing brain structure and brain mass." (said at 0:16:32)

Assal Habibi and colleagues at the University of Southern California (Brain and Creativity Institute) have conducted longitudinal neuroimaging studies tracking children enrolled in systematic music training compared to sports and non-training control groups. Their research demonstrated that childhood music training induces regional structural plasticity—specifically altering the trajectory of cortical thickness maturation in auditory association areas (such as the posterior superior temporal gyrus) and increasing fractional anisotropy in white matter tracts of the corpus callosum. However, the studies demonstrated localized cortical and microstructural neurodevelopmental changes rather than an increase in overall 'brain mass.'

0:21:12Susan Magsamenoverstatedmoderate

Music and sound effectively reduce amygdala activation in the brain.

"music and sound are are really very effective in reducing amygdala activation and I think in large part because it's so so immediate, right?" (said at 0:21:12)

Functional neuroimaging research shows that music and auditory stimuli do not simply or universally reduce amygdala activity. Instead, music robustly modulates and frequently activates the amygdala depending on acoustic features, hedonic valence, tension, and emotional content. Meta-analyses of fMRI studies demonstrate significant amygdala activation during both pleasant and unpleasant music processing, with unpleasant or dissonant music evoking strong amygdala responses. While soothing music and therapeutic sound interventions have been hypothesized or observed to help downregulate hyperactive stress circuits and amygdala reactivity in specific contexts (such as anxiety or trauma recovery), characterizing music and sound broadly as an immediate down-regulator of amygdala activation oversimplifies and overstates the bidirectional, valence-dependent engagement of the amygdala by auditory stimuli.

0:28:53David Perlmutter (host)overstatedmoderate

Japanese shinrin-yoku (forest bathing), visiting urban parks, and having houseplants reduce salivary cortisol levels.

"they're seeing incredible benefits in terms of changes, for example, in their salivary cortisol levels right off the bat, that they go down quite dramatically. And and now research is showing that that even happens in cities when people go into a park even in the city. And even happens, back to the enrichment part of the story, when people get a houseplant and put a houseplant in in their homes." (said at 0:28:53)

Evidence supports the general direction of the claim, but characterizes the effect size and consistency as modest rather than 'dramatic' or 'incredible'. A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) found a statistically significant but modest reduction in salivary cortisol compared to urban environments (mean difference -0.05 μg/dL after intervention). Similarly, randomized trials comparing natural green spaces to urban built environments demonstrate reductions in salivary cortisol and psychological distress. However, while indoor plants and biophilic elements show general stress-reducing and autonomic benefits, evidence that placing a houseplant in a home causes an immediate or large decrease in salivary cortisol is limited and based primarily on small experimental laboratory trials.

0:16:07Susan Magsamenoverstatedlow

Aesthetic experiences and engaging with art promote myelination enhancements in neural pathways.

"the myelination um enhancements that happen, too. So, creating this ability for for neural pathways to work better is is such a protective um attribute for us." (said at 0:16:07)

Broad claims that aesthetic experiences and general engagement with art enhance neural pathway myelination extrapolate heavily from specialized skill-learning literature. While intensive motor or auditory training (such as instrument practice or music-cued motor learning) can induce white matter microstructural changes on diffusion tensor imaging consistent with activity-dependent myelination, long-term developmental studies find that baseline white matter myelination trajectories proceed primarily via natural maturation regardless of musical expertise. Furthermore, direct evidence demonstrating that passive aesthetic experiences or general art appreciation induce de novo myelination in humans is lacking.

5

Needs context

0:19:37Ivy Rossneeds contextmoderate

Doctors in Canada and London prescribe museum visits to patients to stimulate neural pathways.

"doctors in Canada and London are prescribing certain patients to go to museums just to literally exercise those neurons" (said at 0:19:37)

Physicians in Canada and the UK do participate in social and cultural prescribing programs that allow them to prescribe museum and gallery visits to patients. In Canada, a formal partnership between the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) and the association Médecins francophones du Canada began in 2018, allowing doctors to prescribe free museum visits. Similarly, social prescribing via the UK National Health Service (NHS) connects patients with arts and cultural assets. However, these programs are prescribed primarily to address social isolation, mental health, frailty, and overall quality of life rather than as a targeted medical intervention to 'literally exercise neurons.'

0:23:17Ivy Rossneeds contextlow

Preliminary studies show that sound vibration stimulates the production of nitric oxide in the body.

"there's some just preliminary studies that sound produces nitric oxide um which relaxes people." (said at 0:23:17)

Studies have demonstrated that acoustic vibrations, notably from vocal humming, increase exhaled nasal nitric oxide (NO) concentrations substantially (up to 15-fold) compared to quiet exhalation. However, this is primarily due to acoustic oscillation enhancing gas exchange and ventilation between the paranasal sinuses (where NO is constitutively concentrated) and the nasal cavity, rather than evidence of widespread de novo systemic NO production or systemic relaxation. Furthermore, trials evaluating downstream systemic or emotional effects of humming-induced NO have found no evidence that it alters emotional processing or provides psychological relaxation.

0:23:47Ivy Rossneeds contextlow

MIT research demonstrates that 40 Hz sensory stimulation combined with specific colors promotes the clearance of amyloid plaque in the brain.

"40 hertz uh to the work that the MIT woman is doing, right? With with actually removing plaque from the brain, the combination of 40 hertz plus certain colors are being shown to uh initiate plaque clearing on the brain." (said at 0:23:47)

The statement refers to landmark research from Li-Huei Tsai's laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, non-invasive 40 Hz visual light flicker was shown to entrain gamma oscillations, promote microglial engulfment of amyloid-beta, and significantly reduce amyloid plaque load in the visual cortex. However, the therapeutic effect is driven by the temporal frequency (40 Hz gamma entrainment) rather than specific color combinations, and definitive evidence of amyloid plaque clearance is derived primarily from preclinical rodent models, with human clinical investigations still preliminary.

0:30:26Ivy Rossneeds contextlow

Humans have lived in nature for 99.8% of human evolutionary history and in the built environment for only 0.2%.

"E.O. Wilson also reminded Susan and I that 99.8% of the time us humans have been on this planet, we lived in nature. It's been only 0.2% that we've lived in the built environment." (said at 0:30:26)

The statement reflects a standard evolutionary heuristic frequently cited in biophilia and evolutionary psychology literature (popularized by E.O. Wilson, Stephen Kellert, and others) rather than a precisely measurable empirical constant. Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) emerged roughly 300,000 years ago, while the genus Homo extends back approximately 2.5 to 3 million years. Permanent built settlements and urbanization developed only within the last 5,000 to 10,000 years (and widespread modern indoor/built environments only in the past few centuries). Depending on whether the timeline is calculated from early hominids or modern humans, hunter-gatherer existence in natural settings constitutes approximately 97% to >99.8% of human evolutionary history. Thus, the 99.8% vs. 0.2% figure is a broadly accurate illustrative calculation of hominid evolutionary mismatch, though exact percentages depend on the specific baseline definitions of the human timeline and 'built environment'.

0:32:40Susan Magsamenneeds contextlow

Poetry activates the same brain regions as music does.

"It's also interesting that um poetry activates the same part of the brain that music does. And so, and not just rhyming." (said at 0:32:40)

Neuroimaging studies demonstrate that poetry and music share overlapping neural circuitry, particularly within emotional and reward processing networks (such as primary reward pathways that mediate peak emotional responses and chills). However, poetry and music also rely on distinct neural networks: poetry strongly engages language-processing circuits (including left-hemisphere semantic and phonological networks), whereas music relies heavily on specialized auditory and tonal networks, and studies note distinct functional patterns within reward structures such as the nucleus accumbens.

8

Supported by research

0:03:42Susan Magsamensupportedmoderate

Visual art, metaphor, and symbol are used clinically to build narrative and treat trauma and PTSD.

"the power of, uh, metaphor and symbol in helping to create, build narrative around trauma, which now is work that's being done quite regularly for PTSD and and trauma" (said at 0:03:42)

Clinical literature supports the claim that visual art, symbolism, and metaphors are used in clinical settings to help patients construct trauma narratives and reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Art therapy interventions—including mask-making, montage painting, and self-narrative art therapy—are applied in outpatient and clinical programs for military veterans, war-affected children, and individuals with psychological trauma to aid in externalization, trauma exposure, narrative building, and symptom reduction.

0:24:45David Perlmutter (host)supportedmoderate

Nitric oxide is involved in cerebral bioenergetics related to glucose utilization and enhances cerebral blood supply.

"nitric oxide is involved in the bioenergetics of brain functionality with respect to glucose utilization, but also enhances blood supply." (said at 0:24:45)

Published neurovascular literature confirms that nitric oxide (NO) is a central regulator of both cerebral blood supply (neurovascular coupling) and cerebral bioenergetics, including the regulation of glucose metabolism/glycolysis across neurons and astrocytes.

0:31:27David Perlmutter (host)supportedlow

Viewing images of natural environments versus geometric images is associated with functional MRI changes in the amygdala.

"Even you know, it's been demonstrated that even looking at images of natural environments versus geometric images uh is associated with changes in functional MRI imaging of the amygdala, which is something we were talked about earlier." (said at 0:31:27)

Functional neuroimaging studies examining visual exposure to environmental scenes demonstrate differential amygdala activation between natural and built/urban (geometric) environments. For example, an fMRI study in 28 healthy adults found that viewing urban scenic images produced significantly greater activation in regions including the amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus compared to viewing natural scenic images. Evidence in this domain is generally derived from small experimental neuroimaging cohorts.

0:35:54Susan Magsamensupportedmoderate

James Pennebaker's expressive writing lowers cortisol levels.

"working with um James Pennebaker's work in expressive writing, not necessarily poetry although it could be, but getting an idea out of your head um onto paper that's causing you difficulty um does two things. One, it lowers cortisol" (said at 0:35:54)

Randomized controlled trials investigating James Pennebaker's expressive writing paradigm (and related written emotional disclosure interventions) have found that expressive writing attenuates cortisol release and physiological reactivity in response to acute psychological stress and trauma recall. Studies demonstrate that writing about emotionally challenging experiences or past failures buffers neuroendocrine (cortisol) responses compared to neutral writing conditions, though the effect primarily manifests as attenuated stress-induced cortisol reactivity rather than an unconditional reduction in basal cortisol.

0:36:15Susan Magsamensupportedmoderate

Expressive writing reduces cognitive load.

"One, it lowers cortisol and it also lowers cognitive load." (said at 0:36:15)

Experimental studies demonstrate that expressive writing about stressors or worries reduces intrusive and avoidant thoughts, thereby freeing up working memory capacity and reducing cognitive load/distraction. Randomized experiments show that expressive writing allows individuals to 'offload' anxiety-related thoughts, which preserves working memory resources and prevents performance decrements under high-stress cognitive tasks.

0:57:30David Perlmutter (host)supportedmoderate

Higher levels of systemic inflammation in the body and brain disrupt top-down functional connectivity from the prefrontal cortex to the amygdala.

"interruption of the connection from the prefrontal cortex to exercise this top-down control is enhanced when there are higher levels of inflammation in the body and the brain." (said at 0:57:30)

Observational and neuroimaging studies consistently support that elevated systemic inflammatory biomarkers (such as C-reactive protein [CRP] and interleukin-6 [IL-6]) are associated with reduced or disrupted resting-state and task-related functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex (specifically the ventromedial prefrontal cortex) and the amygdala, a circuit central to top-down emotional regulation.

0:42:48Susan Magsamensupportedhigh

The default mode network of the brain is activated during quiet rest, mind-wandering, and internally directed reflection rather than active external sensory or task processing.

"But the default mode network um goes to work when you're not creating, when you're not bringing that work in. It goes to work when you are quiet. So, you know, in this very fast-paced world we live in, we often don't just stop and let our brains process. And you know, you know how you sometimes you're in the shower and you have a really great idea and you're talking to yourself, it's because you're really just in that sort of in between space and and you know, we probably all have those moments where you're like, I just had a great idea. And you know, you're daydreaming, your mind wandering, you're figuring out what you like and don't like, you're really allowing the default mode network to come online to process all of that sort of sensorial information." (said at 0:42:48)

The default mode network (DMN) is a well-characterized large-scale brain network that consistently demonstrates heightened spontaneous activity and functional connectivity during passive resting states, mind-wandering, daydreaming, and internally focused cognitive processes (such as autobiographical memory retrieval and self-referential thought), while typically becoming deactivated or decoupled during externally directed, attention-demanding sensorimotor tasks.

1:01:32Ivy Rosssupportedhigh

The cave paintings of Lascaux date to approximately 20,000 years ago.

"I mean, you know, 20,000 years ago the caves of Lascaux." (said at 1:01:32)

Archaeological assessments and radiocarbon (14C) dating of organic materials and anthropic archaeological layers directly associated with Lascaux Cave place human occupation and the creation of its art to between approximately 18,000 and 21,500 calibrated years before present (cal BP), corresponding to the Badegoulian-to-Magdalenian transition during the Upper Paleolithic. Recent accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon measurements on fauna associated with anthropic activity in the cave yielded calibrated dates centered around 21,000 to 21,500 cal BP (~17,600 uncalibrated BP), closely matching the approximate figure of 20,000 years ago.

5

No source found (not proven false)

0:13:54David Perlmutter (host)unverifiedvery low

Research on the Apollo Neuro device shows an average 11% increase in heart rate variability.

"11% increase in heart rate variability on average" (said at 0:13:54)

No published record matching the claim of an average 11% increase in heart rate variability from the Apollo Neuro device was located; this does not prove the claim false. Published peer-reviewed research on the device has evaluated outcomes such as sleep duration, student burnout, and anxiety, but none report a verified 11% average increase in heart rate variability.

0:13:54David Perlmutter (host)unverifiedvery low

Research on the Apollo Neuro device shows up to 25% improvement in focus and concentration.

"and up to 25% more focus and concentration." (said at 0:13:54)

No published record matching the claim that the Apollo Neuro device improves focus and concentration by up to 25% was located; this does not prove the claim false. Published peer-reviewed research on the device has evaluated outcomes related to total sleep duration, anxiety symptoms, and occupational burnout in student populations, but published clinical trials validating a 25% increase in focus or concentration were not found.

0:14:56David Perlmutter (host)unverifiedvery low

Engaging in art enhances the brain's production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

"art actually does enhance the brain's production of BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which I think many of our viewers are familiar with." (said at 0:14:56)

No published record matching the claim that engaging in art enhances the brain's production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was located; this does not prove the claim false. While visual arts and art therapy have been investigated for potential psychological, cognitive, and functional neuroplasticity outcomes, direct empirical evidence demonstrating that art making increases brain or circulating BDNF levels has not been established in peer-reviewed studies.

0:25:20David Perlmutter (host)unverifiedvery low

Marian Diamond's 1960s rodent studies showed an approximate 6% increase in cerebral cortex thickness in enriched environments compared to impoverished environments.

"the work of Marian Diamond uh back in the 1960s where she was actually able to demonstrate, in I think a rodent model, a pretty dramatic increase in the thickness of the cortex by about 6% uh in rodents who lived in an enriched environment uh versus an environment that was pretty pretty dull." (said at 0:25:20)

No published record matching Marian Diamond's 1960s rodent studies showing an approximate 6% increase in cerebral cortex thickness in enriched environments compared to impoverished environments was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:33:40Susan Magsamenunverifiedvery low

Poetry activates sound-processing brain regions independently of semantic word comprehension to a greater degree than prose or fiction.

"They're really more around sound and the way like the difference between how we process sound like rock and stone, right? They're so highly visual and we see something very very different when we're using those that those different words and they resonate in a way that, you know, from a sound perspective, separate from understanding word meaning. And that happens through poetry more than it does through um fiction or creative nonfiction." (said at 0:33:40)

No published record matching the claim that poetry activates sound-processing brain regions independently of semantic word comprehension to a greater degree than fiction or prose was located; this does not prove the claim false. While neuroimaging studies have examined neural responses to the sound of words (PMID: 29789504) and neural activation differences between reading poetry versus prose (PMID: 26409018, PMID: 30186210), none of these studies demonstrate that poetry specifically activates sound-processing auditory regions independently of semantic word meaning to a greater extent than fiction or prose.

Unverified means no publication matching the claim was located; it does not prove the claim false. Spotted an error? See the corrections policy - disputes from the people quoted are prioritized.