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A study in Innovation in Aging suggests that regularly participating in arts and cultural activities, such as listening to music, reading, or visiting galleries, is linked to slower biological aging..
Researchers at University College London (UCL) analyzed blood samples and survey data from about 3,500 U.K. adults and found a correlation between arts participation and slower epigenetic aging.
Daisy Fancourt, lead author and psychobiologist at UCL, stated that people who regularly participated in the arts were biologically about a year younger than those who did not.
"We found in this study that 'arts engagement' was related to 4 percent slower aging rates," Fancourt told NPR's Morning Edition. She noted that this reduction was similar to the effect observed with physical activity.
The study distinguishes between chronological age, the number of years a person has lived, and biological age, which measures accumulated cellular damage and can differ significantly from actual age.
The researchers used data from Understanding Society, a long-term survey of 40,000 U.K. households.
They collected blood samples and leisure activity surveys from 2010 to 2012. The data were analyzed using seven epigenetic clocks, three of which showed that both arts engagement and physical activity were associated with slower aging.
Steven Horvath, a geneticist and biostatistician at UCLA who developed key epigenetic measurement methods, described the findings as opening new opportunities for the field.
"What is particularly new to me is that arts engagement may have comparable effects to physical activity," Horvath said.
Previous research established links between aerobic exercise and slower biological aging, including findings that telomeres, the ends of chromosomes that shorten with each cell division, are longer in physically active people than in sedentary individuals.
However, the effects of leisure and cultural activities on aging had not been as thoroughly examined.
Doug Vaughan, a cardiologist at Northwestern University, said creative activities can lower stress levels, citing a 2016 study that found cortisol levels dropped after 45 minutes of art-making.
Sustained stress reduction may also lower inflammation, which researchers associate with biological aging, a process referred to in the study as "inflammageing."
The researchers found the association between arts engagement and slower aging was strongest among adults aged 40 and older. This link remained after accounting for other longevity-related factors such as body mass index and smoking status.
Fancourt also noted that the type of activity matters. Each form of arts engagement, such as reading, making music, attending cultural performances, or visiting heritage sites, affects individuals differently on cognitive, emotional, and physiological levels. She said that engaging in a diverse range of activities is most beneficial for health outcomes.
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