Looking at original paintings in a gallery lowered stress and inflammation markers in as little as 20 minutes, a small experiment at London's Courtauld Gallery found, according to researchers at King's College London.

London

Researchers at King's College London have found that spending time viewing original artworks in a gallery can lower stress and inflammation markers in the body. In a small study at the Courtauld Gallery, 50 adults were monitored as they viewed either original art in a gallery or reproductions in a laboratory setting.

The study measured participants' cortisol levels and immune markers before and after viewing the art. Those who visited the gallery experienced a 22% drop in cortisol, compared to an 8% drop for those viewing reproductions. The researchers note that while these results add physiological evidence to previous observations about the benefits of cultural visits, larger peer-reviewed studies are needed to confirm the findings.

Visiting art galleries can lower stress markers, UK study finds

Looking at art in a gallery can lower stress and inflammation markers in as little as 20 minutes. That's what researchers at King's College London found after a small experiment at London's Courtauld Gallery. The team studied 50 adults aged 18 to 40 who either viewed five well-known works in a single gallery room or reproductions in a similar non-gallery space. So what we wanted to find out was why do people feel better when they look at art? Tony Woods is a physiologist and one of the researchers involved in the study. So when we put somebody in front of a real painting, what happens? And is that different from them looking at a copy of exactly the same painting but not in a museum setting in the laboratory? Researchers collected saliva before and after viewing the art to measure cortisol, a key stress hormone, as well as two proteins linked to inflammation. Participants wore research-grade watches tracking heart activity and skin temperature. The findings? Average cortisol fell 22% for those in the gallery, compared with 8% for those seeking reproductions. Woods said the participants viewing art in the gallery were intensely focused and concentrating. It has a very calming effect upon them. And that was backed up by the cortisol levels which dropped in the gallery participants but not in the participants that viewed the copies of the art in the laboratory. And also our immune markers showed that there was a dampening of the immune system. So what it showed was that basically people were engaged, highly engaged with the art, but they were also incredibly relaxed. Researchers said they designed the trial to probe mechanisms behind previously reported well-being gains from cultural visits. The findings add real-time physiological data to earlier observational links between arts engagement and health. But the authors say larger, peer-reviewed studies are needed. For participant Aaron Kim, the study is changing how she views a trip to the gallery. I think I really realized how powerful art can be.

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