Art and the Brain - notes from Dr Fornazzari's lecture

During April I went to an amazing conference at Deerhurst in Muskoka. I love conferences and especially when it is mixed with pleasure. It becomes a mini vacation. The world of psychotherapy can be quite isolated and so I am in my glory when I get to see colleagues I have known since my own formation and get to meet new ones. I met fellow therapists and chaplains from across Canada and the USA. My reason for attending was to hear Dr Luis Fornazzari’s lecture. Dr Fornazzari is a medical doctor and a Behavioural Neurologist. He is a graduate from the University of Chile and a Consultant Behavioural Neurologist at the Memory Disorder Clinic and the Geriatric Mental Health Outpatient program at St Michael’s Hospital. He is a member of both the Division of Neurology and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. His clinical work is dedicated to Neurodegenerative Diseases affecting the Central Nervous System, particularly Dementia. I was quite enthusiastic for the event and it did not disappoint. Dr Forazzari spoke of art as an enhancer of brain reserve capacity and as an enhancer of brain reserve capacity. Art is better preserved in brain diseases. Art could have been developed earlier, or in parallel with other cognitive behaviours. Art and science is relatively new. There used to be two different approaches before. Neuropsychiatry is the science of the mind. Neuroscience is the science of the brain. This evolution does not always let us study - what is the conscience? Art function - the biological of art is that of rehearsal, a training etc…Science and the arts are mutually supporting and consequently there is a chain that bonds them together. We forgot about that until the last 50 years which is recent. Art is a powerful hearing process of body and mind - painting, music, dancing and particularly in writing. Music is now more accessible to investigate the musician or the people listening to music. The finest instrument is the brain. (To be continued next week………)