Where art meets neuroscience: A new horizon of art therapy

摘要

Advances in human brain imaging help us evaluate brain functions from many perspectives. We can define structural brain differences between individuals with various disorders, such as adult schizophrenia (1) and childhood, autistic-spectrum disorders (2). From these studies, we can posit hypotheses regarding structure, and how structure relates to symptoms. However, often we find it difficult to assign causality to such findings. For example, we can ask whether structural anomalies cause the symptoms or whether symptoms drive the abnormal brain structures. Nevertheless, we can confidently say that the brain's structure changes as a consequence of illness and activity, eg, imaging data show that with proper rehabilitation, an injured brain rewires and recovers its function (3).