YSM Issue 93.3_Old

FEATURE
Neuroaesthetics
ADDING THE "A"
TO "STEAM"
SCIENCES AND THE ARTS
WITH SUSAN MAGSAMEN
BY KELLY CHEN & HANNAH HUANG
ART BY ANMEI LITTLE
For someone who has spent her career studying neuroaesthetics—
how brain sciences interface with the arts—Susan Magsamen
has a surprising secret: she’s not a very good artist herself. “Like,
not good at all,” she laughs. “Not a good writer, not a good drawer,
not a good dancer, can’t sing at all. I will literally turn on Siri and sing
as loud as I can, and I just hear my husband close the door upstairs.”
Magsamen doesn’t do it for the praise—she simply does it for herself
and the pleasure she derives from it. And she’s devoted her life’s work
to helping others realize how art can impact human potential.
Magsamen’s interest in the field started early. At age nine, she saw
her twin sister immobilized and confined at home for a year and a
half after a serious accident resulted in a compound fracture in her
leg. An art class that her sister was able to take from home helped her
come to terms with her feelings, get over the trauma of the accident,
and ultimately saved her life, Magsamen believes.
Now, as the founder and Executive Director of the International
Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), part of the Brain Science Institute at
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Magsamen and her
team are focused on scientifically validating how art affects our
minds, bodies, and behavior, as well as how that knowledge can
be used in interventions at the personal, family, and community
level. Her team is conducting a number of research projects that
explore not only how the arts can improve health and well-being,
but also consider the importance of personal preference when using
art and aesthetic experiences as an intervention. For example, in
collaboration with Kennedy Krieger Institute, IAM Lab is building
a multisensory care room to aid
children waking up from coma,
customized with a child’s
favorite colors, scents,
sounds and textures.
Although there
is a growing body
of research on
neuroaesthetics,
efforts in this
emerging field
have largely
operated in
isolation. One of
Magsamen’s major goals is to “really coalesce all of the different
disciplines and practitioners and researchers around the world
who are already doing this work.” To do this, Magsamen’s team
has created a scientific method to study the arts called Impact
Thinking, a framework that can be consistently applied across
the field to standardize research practices and scale the most
promising, evidence-based interventions rapidly.
Magsamen is not only a passionate problem-solver and researcher,
but also an established entrepreneur and children’s book author.
Despite how different these fields may seem, Magsamen has “never
felt uncomfortable shifting between [these spaces].”
“The through lines to all of my work have really been three
things,” she said. “One is this idea around self-expression and
finding, sharing, and celebrating voice.” The other is “collaborations
and working with really amazing people.” The third is trying to
understand why something is happening, a curiosity that drives
her investigations into the underlying science of the arts.
Not all collaborations have been ideal, though. “Where I think
there have been barriers has been coming up against traditional
types of belief systems about what something should look like as
opposed to what something could be. In the venture [capital] world,
I came head up against gatekeepers—primarily older, white males
who were really just sexist,” she said. “I think that’s changing, but
it’s really true, and I think to not name it is wrong.” Her advice:
persevere through and hold your ground.
To all women in STEAM, Magsamen also emphasizes the
importance of taking care of your mind and your body, as well as
truly listening to yourself. “I do my best work when I sleep,” she
laughs. She chooses not to make important decisions or answer
questions late at night. “I needed to process and know what I thought
before I was responding to what people wanted me to respond to.”
In a society where art programs and experiences are often
underfunded or viewed as frivolous, Magsamen’s work may teach
us how important it is to incorporate art in our lives. “The arts
and aesthetic experiences make us healthier and more human
and connect us to ourselves,” she says. “We have become such a
transactional culture, and sometimes we’re not as transformational
and as fully alive as we can and should be.” Art doesn’t have to be
produced by a prodigy to have value—it can do its greatest good
when enjoyed by everyone, regardless of skill level. ■
40 Yale Scientific Magazine November 2020 www.yalescientific.org