According to research, the more you engage your creativity, the slower you might age.
Hara Estroff Marano, Editor at Large of Psychology Today, explored this concept in the June 2026 issue of Psychology Today’s print magazine (which was discussed in a recent post on Psychology Today). She noted that “creative pursuits have their strongest effects on the parts of the brain that are the most vulnerable to aging.” In fact, Marano explained, regular creativity “offsets the effects of aging on brain operation.”
Marano cited an international study of over 1,470 participants that found a positive link between creativity and brain connectivity (plasticity), neural connectivity, information processing, and information transfer throughout the brain.
What’s more? Another survey from University College London found that participating in creative arts can help slow biological aging. To reach these results, researchers analyzed survey responses and blood test data from over 3,500 adults, some of whom were active in the arts and others who weren’t. Then, they looked at chemical changes that influence aging without altering the genetic code.
“These results demonstrate the health impact of the arts at a biological level,” said Professor Daisy Fancourt (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care), lead author of the study, per UCL. “They provide evidence for arts and cultural engagement to be recognized as a health-promoting behavior in a similar way to exercise.”
As someone who uses creativity as an outlet when life gets hard, I will never underestimate the power of art. But to think it might actually slow our biological aging? That’s quite impressive.
“Our study provides the first evidence that arts and cultural engagement is linked to a slower pace of biological aging,” Senior author Dr Feifei Bu (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) added. “This builds on a growing body of evidence about the health impact of the arts, with arts activities being shown to reduce stress, lower inflammation, and improve cardiovascular disease risk, just as exercise is known to do.”
Amid all the “anti-aging” tools and trends out there, creativity might just be my favorite. Of course, it might not erase your wrinkles or tighten your skin, but it might just slow the pace of aging and improve your biological age, per the UCL study. In fact, the effects were similar to those of exercise.
To get the best results, however, consider engaging in various types of creative activities, from painting and writing to theater and music.
“Our study also suggests that engaging in a variety of arts activities may be helpful,” Fancourt said, per UCL. “This may be because each activity has different ‘ingredients’ that help health, such as physical, cognitive, emotional, or social stimulation.”
Don’t let anyone tell you creativity is a waste of time! Art can heal—and improve your biological age, at that.
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