“The arts are not a luxury. They are essential to human wellness.”
Background and Mission
Susan Magsamen is the co-founder and executive director of the International Arts and Mind Lab (IAM Lab) at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and co-author of the book Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. Susan is on a mission to prove that the arts are not a luxury. They are essential to human wellness. We spoke with her about neuroarts, where the field is heading, and why small creative acts matter more than we realize.
How did the International Arts and Mind Lab come to be?
It started with a donor around 2005 who came to Hopkins with one request: to study the arts. At the time, no one really knew how to do that within a medical school. I was invited to organize an initial event called The Science of the Arts, and that became the foundation for the lab. Our donor, Marilyn Pedersen, is a pioneer and co-founder who truly set everything in motion.
What we ultimately built is an interdisciplinary research-to-practice initiative focused on arts, health, well-being, and learning. Our mission is to amplify human potential and to change how we think about arts and aesthetics so they enhance the way we live.
For those unfamiliar with the term, what is neuroaesthetics?
We have always known intuitively that the arts are powerful, but only in the past few decades have we been able to directly study how they change us. Neuroaesthetics examines how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably affect our brains, bodies, and behavior, and how that knowledge can improve physical and mental health.
The broader field is neuroarts. While neuroscience is central, it also values other ways of knowing, including Indigenous knowledge, lived experience, and insights from artists. This work is deeply interdisciplinary and translational because real solutions require that kind of collaboration.
What problem are you most motivated to solve?
We are living in a time of multiple crises, and our nervous systems are overwhelmed by the speed and complexity of modern life. We have optimized for productivity, not for regulation or balance, and the consequences are everywhere. We see it as anxiety, stress, depression, and hopelessness, and also in physical conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and stroke.
Neuroarts offers a powerful solution for whole health, both for individuals and society. Arts and aesthetic experiences regulate multiple systems in the body at once, including the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems. They do this effortlessly and simultaneously. To me, this is a superpower we have forgotten.
The arts are ancient and powerful, but if we do not treat them as a human birthright, we risk losing them. That would be devastating for humanity. I have four young granddaughters, so this feels deeply personal.
What is the biggest misconception about the arts?
That they are a luxury, that you need talent, or that they are expensive. None of that is true. Arts experiences are affordable, accessible, and immediate. We have made them feel exclusive, when in fact the science shows the benefits are equal or even greater for people who do not consider themselves gifted.
Was there a moment that set you on this path?
I have always experienced the world in a very sensorial way, but a defining moment was my twin sister’s accident when we were twelve. She was badly injured and traumatized, though we did not have that language then. My mother encouraged her to draw.
Through drawing, my sister found a way to express what she could not say. She shared her fear, isolation, and uncertainty through images and symbols. That experience changed how I understood communication and healing. Creative expression reaches places words often cannot.
How close are we to seeing this research shape policy and systems?
It is already happening. Over the past twenty years, the research has become far more rigorous, and we now have strong economic data as well. Simple arts interventions can reduce symptoms, lower medication use, and deliver significant cost savings.
We are seeing adoption in healthcare, in the military for PTSD and brain injury, and through FDA-approved neurotechnologies. I expect to see more public-private partnerships and workplace benefits centered on arts and well-being over the next several years.
What do you want people to take away from your work?
Do not wait. You do not need a program or permission to start. Sing in your car. Dance in your living room. Take a nature walk. These small moments matter.
I call it microdosing. The more you integrate arts and aesthetic experiences into daily life, the more resilient and regulated you become. The science is there. The superpower is already yours.
What creative or restorative activities do you personally engage in?
I garden, I write poetry, I collage, and I love food. These are not extras for me. They are how I come back to myself. I have always believed that the small, creative acts of daily life are the most powerful ones. Collaging, taking a nature walk, making something with your hands – these are the kinds of experiences that bring you back to homeostasis, that balance your nervous system and lower your stress. Nature has always been my place, a kind of grounding that I return to again and again. And food, like making brownies for someone you love, that is a creative act too, a way of communicating something that words cannot always reach. I microdose all of it. The garden, the poem, the collage on my table. The more you do it, the better you feel.