Neuroaesthetics and Our Mental Health
May 2022: Celebrating National Mental Health Awareness Month
April/May 2022
Lebanon, NH — Somewhere along the line, our brains developed a keen sense of longing for art. From personal adornment and the rituals of song, dance, and storytelling in nomadic times to the present day, we enjoy art in a multitude of forms. Our brains crave ways to help us communicate, connect, and create. The arts do just that with their emotional and physically-perceptible pulls on our bodies and minds.
Out of aesthetic experiences and their impact on our brains and our physical selves comes the field of study known as neuroaesthetics. Neuroaesthetic research can focus on how the brain rewards us when we view or create art by secreting feel-good brain chemicals like oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine. These chemicals trigger sensations of pleasure, reducing stress and anxiety. Research also reveals that aesthetic experiences impact our bodies, such as changes in breathing, heart rate, and skin responses.
Fortunately, here in the Upper Valley of NH and VT, the arts abound. It’s no wonder, then, that three local non-profits are banding together to present an art exhibition and poetry reading all to be filmed and replayed for people to enjoy over time. Currently, the AVA Gallery & Art Center in Lebanon offers an art exhibition titled “The Thing With Feathers,” inspired by the theme of “hope” in a poem by Emily Dickinson, with work by nineteen local artists showing through May 21st.
A public poetry reading and reception on May 14th at 3 - 5 pm on the same theme of “Hope; What brings you light and lifts you up?” is a welcome addition, organized by West Central Behavioral Health in collaboration with AVA. And it will all be video recorded by CATV8, yet another local non-profit that understands the need to share the arts to help people grow, learn, and connect. The poetry reading will include guest poet Alice Fogel, former NH State Poet Laureate, along with ten community poets who will read their verse aloud.
According to AVA’s exhibition manager, Samantha Eckert, “For me, maintaining an artwork practice is integral to keeping my anxiety at bay. I believe an active right brain is essential to a healthy state, body, and mind.”
Neuroaesthetic researchers would agree. Rhyme and rhythm in poetry have similarities to the visual arts. Video recordings of poetry readings showed participants getting chills and goose bumps while feeling intense emotions as they listened. These physical responses happen at the same time the right hemisphere of the brain processes metaphor to integrate meanings of two unrelated concepts. Art, through poetry, stretches the body and mind to help it process feelings and conceptual notions simultaneously. Is it no wonder then that poetry, much like visual art, music, or dance triggers emotional responses like laugher or tears?
In times of trauma, art and poetry can activate parts of the brain that help us express ourselves by returning some normalcy to the language center that may go offline. Through neuroaesthetic research, more and more will be discovered about how art in all its forms helps relieve stress, anxiety, trauma, and depression. But, for now, we can feel the beauty of the arts and poetry with a visit to the AVA Gallery today. Then, on Saturday, May 14th we will experience a community poetry reading open to the public to recognize and celebrate the month of May as National Mental Health Awareness Month.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers, a poem by Emily Dickinson follows:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
Poetry and art come together in new and wonderful ways in the Carter-Kelsey Gallery at AVA, where community artists and poets will offer up plenty of hope. Sponsors of the exhibition and reading include the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation, Mascoma Bank, The Mt. Roeschmore Foundation, Doug & Leslie Williamson, and Geokon.
Let’s all elevate our moods, get goose bumps, laugh a little, de-stress, and enjoy a few moments together as a community with visual art and poetry as our guides.
by: Dave Celone, Nancy Nowell, PhD, and Diane Roston, MD
The above are employees of West Central Behavioral Health, the community behavioral health center for Sullivan County and lower Grafton County (Upper Valley), NH. Dave Celone, Director of Development & Community Relations, lives in Sharon, VT and works in Lebanon, NH. Dr. Nancy Nowell, VP of Clinical Services, lives and works in Lebanon. Dr. Diane Roston, Medical Director, lives in Hanover and works in Lebanon, NH.
For more information about this free and open to the public poetry reading, art exhibition, and community reception for National Mental Health Awareness Month on Saturday, May 14th at 3 pm, please contact Dave Celone at dcelone@wcbh.org. If you are experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis, please call or text the NH Rapid Response Access Point hotline at: 833-710-6477, or visit NH988.com.
Dave Celone writes from Sharon, VT on a hilltop where it was snowing as recently as yesterday, April 20, 2022!