Will Learning to Draw as a Child Change Your Brain as an Adult?

I get this question a lot: Will learning to draw as a child change your brain as an adult? I have a lot of experience working with younger kids over the years. Based on my experience, I’m going to assert that learning to draw as a child will impact the cognitive function of one’s brain as an adult. I see the changes happening in my young students. I have the joy of witnessing them learning to see their world differently. And once that happens, there is no going back.

Results Based on a Northwestern University Study

Here is an interesting study published by Northwestern University, regarding the impact of music lessons in childhood on adult brain patterns. “We show that adults who received formal music instruction as children have more robust brainstem responses to sound than peers who never participated in music lessons and that the magnitude of the response correlates with how recently training ceased. Our results suggest that neural changes accompanying musical training during childhood are retained in adulthood. These findings advance our understanding of long-term neuroplasticity and have general implications for the development of effective auditory training programs.”

Want to Read More?

I wonder if I could get them to study my students and the impact of drawing lessons on adult brains!? Want to read more about their study and see if learning to draw as a child can change your brain as an adult? Click here: http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/brainvolts/documents/SkoeKraus_JNeurosci_2012.pdf