Some people spend their evenings rehearsing tango steps, some fill notebooks with sketches, and some study a score. Different habits, united by a measurable effect on the brain. A large international study indicates that creative engagement is associated with slower brain aging, observable in the neural circuits that regulate attention, learning and coordination.
The research, conducted by a group of scientists active in 13 countries and led by neuroscientists Carlos Coronel and Agustín Ibáñez, involved nearly 1,400 people. The sample included tango dancers, musicians, visual artists and video gamers, flanked by control groups with similar age, gender and educational characteristics. The goal was to test whether creativity could leave detectable traces in brain biology.
The estimated age of neural networks
To do so, the researchers used so-called“brain clocks,” machine learning models capable of estimating the biological age of the brain from its electrical activity. The data were collected using magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography, techniques that allow real-time observation of how different brain areas communicate with each other.
When the estimated age turns out to be lower than the registry age, the brain shows greater functional efficiency. It is this differential that emerges clearly in the creative participants. Tango dancers presented on average brains more than seven years younger. Musicians and visual artists showed a difference of five or six years, while in video gamers the gap was around four.
According to Ibáñez, brain health is about the ability to sustain cognitive, emotional and social functions throughout life. Aging follows different trajectories and affects neural networks unevenly. Creative activities seem to affect precisely this variability.
Stronger connections in vulnerable areas
Alongside brain clocks, the team employed biophysical models, digital simulations that reproduce brain functioning based on biological and physical rules. These tools allow them to interpret the data and identify underlying mechanisms.
Analyses indicate that creativity is associated with more efficient communication between brain regions involved in attention, learning and coordination, areas that tend to show early signs of decline. Artistic and playful activities simultaneously prompt perception, movement, memory and decision-making, strengthening the flexibility of neural networks.
Effects visible even in adult starters
The study also includes a small-scale experiment. A group of volunteers with no previous experience was trained for about 30 hours on the strategic video game StarCraft II. At the end of the training period, brain clocks registered a trend that, prolonged over time, would lead to an estimated age reduction of two to three years, accompanied by improvements in attentional processes.
The effect grows with continued practice and is independent of the chosen discipline. Dance, painting, music and video games produce convergent results, suggesting that the decisive factor is creative learning itself.
