Artists 'have structurally different brains'

[theHandpuppet]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26925271

17 April 2014
Artists 'have structurally different brains'
By Melissa Hogenboom
Science reporter, BBC Radio Science

Artists have structurally different brains compared with non-artists, a study has found.

Participants' brain scans revealed that artists had increased neural matter in areas relating to fine motor movements and visual imagery.

The research, published in NeuroImage, suggests that an artist's talent could be innate...

..."The people who are better at drawing really seem to have more developed structures in regions of the brain that control for fine motor performance and what we call procedural memory," she explained.... MORE

[djean111]

1. Would an artist's brain be that way at birth, or be that way because of increased

stimuli on that part of the brain?

[theHandpuppet]

2. Or is it a genetic trait passed on from one generation to the next?

I'd like to know how many artists have other family members who are artistic and how many generations back they can trace this particular talent.

I'm not so sure about the abundance of grey matter being due to increased stimuli. How could that explain a hypothetical family of six kids, three of whom are highly artistic and three not at all?

[djean111]

3. I am just wondering if it is a nature versus nurture thing.

A couple of days ago I read that smoking pot changes the brain, is the reason I asked.
Hypothetical family - just going by my own family, some of us were encouraged to be artistic, others were not.
I don't like to think of genetics for that sort of thing, because of, well, that hypothetical family.
If we had brain scans at birth, that would be pretty interesting to compare them to brain scans later in life, after things like being an artist had developed, I think!

[theHandpuppet]

4. Why does the possibility of a genetic link bother you?

Truly, I don't get it.

[djean111]

6. Just because it brings visions of "breeding" for artists.

I am considered quite artistic, so it is not that I would be envious.
If that hypothetical family with six kids only had three artistic kids, it would make genetics a crapshoot anyway.

[qazplm]

8. it is partly a genetics crapshoot

Michael Jordan wasn't one of the greatest players solely by force of will and hard work, there was genetic things going on there that allowed him not only to physically excel, but his ability to spatially reason was obviously in the extreme range, and that's at least partially genetic.

I don't think one could "breed" for artists because the genetic factors/combos are probably way too complex.
A perfect example is that none of Jordan's sons are/were anywhere near the player he was.

[Javaman]

9. as far a my family is concerned...

I got my artistic talent from my mom, who got it from her dad. He in turn got it from his mom. So that's 4 generations.

My sister and I share the artistic bend.

My brother and other sister do not, yet, my brothers daughter has it.

so that's 5 generations.

Then there is the mechanical aspect.

both my bother and I have gotten my dads mechanical ability. My sisters have not.

my dads father was first a blacksmith then a mechanic. My grandfather's father was a blacksmith.

my brothers son and other daughter have the mechanical mind as well.

So just from my point of view, I do believe it is a genetic trait.

[femmocrat]

13. My brother and I are both working artists.

My sister was a musician and scientist! No one knows where any of it came from.

One of my sons is very artistic but chose not to pursue it. He is a writer instead! The other son is an excellent prose writer (he even published some articles) but was really interested in music and sports. I always did art with them when they were little.

It's like someone put the genes into a cocktail shaker and strained out certain talents/abilities/interests into each child.

[tridim]

5. I believe artists develop a special type of hand-eye coordination early in life.

And not the kind used in sports.

It's more about seeing detail and the whole picture at the same time and kind of letting your hands become part of it all. It's almost like the eye and hand become a single sense. At least that's how I felt as I was developing as an artist in school. I've felt the same thing when I started writing songs on the guitar.

I'm not a professional artist, but in school I was known as the "art guy".

[femmocrat]

7. In know exactly what you mean.

When I was in elementary school, I could draw maps by looking at the shape of coastline and not at my paper. I later learned this is the same skill as contour drawing. I became an art teacher and still introduce contour drawing with a map! Some kids get it immediately; others simply cannot see it.

I think it is at least partly innate. Of course, some children never use a crayon until they enter kindergarten, so who knows.

[Javaman]

11. Here's a question, do you enjoy or are you good at jigsaw puzzles?

I relate to them like I do drawing. If you can understand what I mean.

[femmocrat]

12. Yes! I can see the shapes and color variations easily.

No problem! LOL

[Javaman]

14. Same here.

cool, just curious.

Cheers!

[Javaman]

10. maybe. I started drawing when I was 2 1/2. Not because I was encouraged per say, but I saw my sister

drawing and I mimicked her.

I'm sure you can relate to the concept, since you are an artist, that it just felt natural to draw. Never a trial.

and as a kid, I was very much a loner and would spend hours drawing to escape my "troubled" household (to put it politely).