The Play Was Always the Thing: Drama’s Effect on Brain Function

doi:10.4236/psych.2012.36064

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Psychology

2012. Vol.3, No.6, 454-456

Published Online June 2012 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/psych) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/psych.2012.36064

454

The Play Was Always the Thing: Drama’s Effect on

Brain Function

Brian H. Hough1, Sigmund Hough2

1Marblehead High School, Marblehead, USA

2Department of Psych i atry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

Email: [email protected]

Received March 20th, 2012; revised April 17th, 2012; accepted May 16th, 2012

The brain is a mysterious canvas of actualized and unrealized possibilities. As Diane Ackerman notes,

“…each person carries around atop the body a complete universe in which trillions of sensations, thoughts,

and desires stream.” Brain science remains uncharted territory despite the significant efforts that have

been and are being realized to better understand brain and behavior. More than mere coincidence or hap-

penstance, plays like Shakespeare’s famous “Romeo and Juliet” with great storylines, brilliant costumes,

and emotional stimulation continue to survive for ages based upon pure artistic excellence that engages

the audience in a unique manner. There is a need to more fully understand how our brains process drama

and the manner in which like versus dislike are decided. Most important is the factor of longevity and

what makes the appealing quality of drama survive over years across cultural and generational shifts. To

speak to this question, drama has been shown to have impressive effects on brain activation but remains

conservative in highlighting potentially profound implications. Drama has advantageous benefits to health

as well as to essential activities such as learning and personal growth. Drama should not remain under-

rated in terms of its influence on brain function and the relationship between environment and brain.

Keywords: Art; Brain Function; Brain Stimulation; Drama; Shakespeare

The Brain

The brain is a mysterious canvas of actualized and unrealized

possibilities. As Diane Ackerman notes, “…each person carries

around atop the body a complete universe in which trillions of

sensations, thoughts, and desires stream.” Brain science re-

mains uncharted territory despite the significant efforts that

have been and are being realized to better understand brain and

behavior. More than mere coincidence or happenstance, plays

like Shakespeare’s famous “Romeo and Juliet” with great story-

lines, brilliant costumes, and emotional stimulation continue to

survive for ages based upon pure artistic excellence that en-

gages the audience in a unique manner. There is a need to more

fully understand how our brains process drama and the manner

in which like versus dislike are decided. Most important is the

factor of longevity and what makes the appealing quality of

drama survive over years across cultural and generational shifts.

To speak to this question, drama has been shown to have im-

pressive effects on brain activation but remains conservative in

highlighting potentially profound implications. Drama has ad-

vantageous benefits to health as well as to essential activities

such as learning and personal growth. Drama should not remain

underrated in terms of its influence on brain function and the

relationship between environment and brain.

Humans interact with each other, but the way in which each

individual interacts differs greatly. The way people live their

lives differs in this way as well. This is primarily due to a com-

bination of different brain compositions, personality traits and

cultural-environmental conditions. As Pinker (1997: p. 62) stated,

“Intelligence…is the ability to attain goals in the face of obsta-

cles by means of decisions based on rational (truth-obeying)

rules.” However, intelligence is different from thought as “Hu-

mans…emit a response to a stimulus either because it was ear-

lier paired with a reflexive trigger for that response…or be-

cause the response was rewarded in the presence of that stimu-

lus” (Pinker, 1997: p. 62). Stimuli trigger responses that include

action, non-action, covert, and overt behavior. As humans age

and therefore accumulate more life experiences, humans learn

how to more efficiently react to different stimuli under different

conditions. This is especially true with the prefrontal cortex.

This part of the brain deals with executive functioning and is

not fully developed until at least 21 years of age. Until then,

adolescents rely on “fight or flight” hormones and neurotrans-

mitters such as adrenaline and the amygdala (the emotional

control center of the brain) to react with their world, while

adults can more efficiently sort out stimuli.

Drama and the Brain

We know that stimuli can affect human behaviors. Steven

Pinker (1997: p. 62) illustrates how this condition occurs be-

cause “when shocked, refreshed, or just learning something,

neurons grow new dendritic branches, increasing their reach

and influence even more. The neurotransmitter travels from

neuron to neuron through the use of an axon and across a syn-

apse. As the axon’s tip grows, it senses its environment, getting

cues on which direction to turn. Somehow all that nosing

around, connecting, and networking orients personality, chisels

character.” Accordingly, this neurologic process contributes to

the shaping of cognitive and emotional thought. Drama is thus

entertaining and captivating because to act in a way different

from usual requires response to a novel set of stimuli. New

B. H. HOUGH, S. HOUGH

neurons and axon tips grow during this process of development

and adaptation. This process of becoming different is interest-

ing to the brain because of the inherent ability to make change

to serve a new purpose.

The Impact of Drama

At the University of Liverpool (2006), research has shown

that reading William Shakespeare’s works stimulates the brain.

Shakespeare’s works create functional shifts for the brain,

which “…[allow] the brain to understand what a word means

before [the brain] understands the function of the word within a

sentence… [This causes] …a sudden peak in brain activity and

forces the brain to work backwards in order to fully understand

what Shakespeare is trying to say.” This brain function does not

happen easily and due to this, the brain is affected greatly in an

effort to adapt to this new and exciting environment. Drama

represents to the brain a challenge which must be managed.

Shakespeare’s way of “…throwing odd words into seemingly

normal sentences, surprises the brain and catches it off guard in

a manner that produces a sudden burst of [positive] activity—a

sense of drama created out of the simplest of things” (Univer-

sity of Liverpool, 2006). This is paramount to the understand-

ing of how the mind works, relating back to Ackerman’s and

Pinker’s books. Through knowing what creates positive brain

waves in the brain, drama could act as a medium for alleviating

depression while allowing individuals to develop happy dispo-

sitions.

To keep the brain “fit” has become a cliché nowadays, as

businesses have attempted to mass-produce brain games/puz-

zles/activities that are advertised to keep the brain functioning

efficiently and clearly for longer periods of time than nature

would allow. However, Dave Munger (2007) argues that theater

and drama may be the best activity for brain health, while also

being enjoyable. In a trial involving 124 older adults (aged 60

to 86), all attended nine 90-minute sessions over a month,

where one group was assigned to participate in a theater work-

shop, one group studied visual art, and one group received no

training at all. Each group took an assortment of cognitive tests

at the beginning and end of each month. At the end of the trial,

the people who participated in theater workshops had a signifi-

cantly higher change in their scores from their pre-test to their

post-test. In the theater group, cognitive test scores testing

problem-solving increased the most significantly out of all three

of the groups, followed by cognitive tests in word recall, and

cognitive tests in psychological well-being. However, memory

span increased the most with visual arts, although both visual

arts and theater were significantly higher than the control group

without training. The author argues that their findings demon-

strate that theater training, even during a relatively short time,

can help prevent cognitive decline associated with aging. The

University of Liverpool’s experiment between people in theater

workshops, visual arts workshops, or not in any work- shops is

noteworthy because in such a short span of time (not more than

four weeks), test scores increased greatly due to participation in

theater. This research proposes that cognitive decline could be

significantly reduced if people are involved in theater or such

related activity. Theater could in turn minimize or reduce the

risk of brain related diseases since the brain is remaining

active and “fit”. In a 2004 study at Elmhurst College, a total of

124 participants aged 60 - 86 years were apportioned to one of

three groups: theater arts, non-content specific visual arts, or no

treatment. After 4 weeks, the adults in the theater arts group

improved significantly more than the no-treatment control

group in each of the four measures: word recall, memory,

problem solving, and psychological well-being. Adults in the

visual arts group showed smaller increases relative to the con-

trol group. Four months later, the theater group had retained

performance improvements across all measures. The authors

concluded that theater training, even over a short time period,

can help prevent cognitive decline associated with aging (Bell,

2012). The study suggests that cognitive gains may be found

from theater participation in as little time as four weeks which

is consistent with the study at the University of Liverpool. Due

to the creative qualities inherent in drama, the study goes on to

say that creative engagement may also improve the quality of

life for adults with Alzheimer's disease and other age-related

dementias.

Being active a nd physically fit may just be one of the factors

to promote a healthy brain, since “Tip-of-the-tongue memory is

more complicated than it seems. Remembering a word takes

two steps, pinpointing the word you want and then fetching the

sound code for the word” (Ackerman, p. 86). The memory is

carried through with the brain’s temporal lobe: “the lower lat-

eral lobe of the cerebral hemisphere, lying below the sylvian

(lateral) fissure and merging posteriorly with the occipital lobe”

(Loring, 1999). The temporal lobe is a critical structure of the

brain because the temporal lobe includes the hippocampus

which is involved with creating memories (Loring, 1999).

“That’s why Alzheimer’s, an illness that depletes the temporal

lobe, [which] begins slowly in a plague of forgetfulness… [and

later] attacking all forms of memory” is so devastating (Ac-

kerman, 2004: p. 86). Interestingly, the answer to combat this

condition may lie with elements inherent within drama and

theater. As Munger and the University of Liverpool have pre-

sented, drama may be the answer to stopping or slowing the

progressive nature of cognitive decline shown in malicious

brain diseases like Alzheimer Disease. Through using the brain

in a different way than the brain would be used normally, the

mind is forced to think and act abstractly. This abstraction cre-

ates positive brain waves through overcoming an obstacle,

while increasing brain activity and causing different parts of the

brain to be used together in unison. The brain and its functions

operate on a “use-it-or-lose-it” basis, and theater and drama

cause different parts of the brain to work together. Theater and

drama accordingly strengthen the temporal lobe functioning,

and potentially reversed or stabilized the effects of cognitive

decline and brain disease. There are even reports of utilizing

developmental drama for children with brain injury (Martin,

1977). Although this has not been proven, drama and theater

are promising steps towards achieving such a goal.

Evidence of drama’s dramatic effects on learning has been

especially shown in studies teaching impoverished children.

Jensen (2010) states that the arts are an often-neglected part of

the curriculum that can have a dramatic impact on student per-

formance, as drama teaches emotional intelligence that corre-

lates with higher grades, memorization and processing skills

and fosters social status and friends. UCLA professor, Dr.

James Catterall (Jensen, 2010) analyzed more than 25,000 stu-

dents and found that students participating in drama surpass

students who do not participate in drama, especially in the

fields of reading and mathematics. Also from the study, Dr.

Catterall found continued involvement in music and theater to

be highly correlated with success in mathematics and reading.

B. H. HOUGH, S. HOUGH

456

Furthermore, students from lower socioeconomic status who

received music lessons in grades 8 - 12 versus no music lessons

increased their math scores significantly as well as improving

reading, history, and geography by 40%.

Drama enhances student brains in a manner that sitting in a

classroom for six hours cannot provide students. The arts and

drama foster an environment for wanting to learn. Christopher

Andersen, also, speaks of “greater cognitive gains [with stu-

dents studying with drama] than students in a traditional class-

room environment,” (Andersen, 2004):

…these dramas do not sharply distinguish between actor and

audience; the learner is both participant and observer, playing

a role while interacting with others in role. The drama is facili-

tated by the classroom teacher, who builds on the actions and

reactions of students-in-role to change (or reframe) the imag-

ined context in order to create an episodic sequence of dra-

matic action.

An environment which fosters teaching and participation

with active learning along with first-hand experiences may

provide a more productive path for education. Information is

taken in, absorbed and encoded through more access points

with drama-infused education than learning through receiving

information by single methodology. Students, when studying

with drama, are constantly involved in their studies (just by the

nature of drama) and can therefore, possibly, outperform stu-

dents who study exclusively in a more traditional type of set-

ting. Education through drama removes a traditional-learning

block of academic routine structure and brings learning into a

physical realm that can be acted out to be made real to the stu-

dents. More senses are activated compared to the absorption of

knowledge in a classroom. The belief here is that when new

knowledge is generated from within an authentic milieu, learn-

ing is viewed as more genuine, dynamic and meaningful. Dra-

ma may be used as a motivational component to keep children

actively involved in their studies. Andersen (2004) later talks of

drama’s supportive approach, placing responsibility with the

students, over a traditional classroom’s leading approach, where

the teacher directs the students.

Conclusion

Through a synthesis of research articles and books on the

brain, drama, and theater, it is clear that drama affects the brain

to a greater degree than one would expect. Overall, drama

makes the brain think in a way that is different. Drama creates

positive feelings while strengthening the temporal lobe which

has been shown to be associated with slow cognitive decline in

some cases and a healthier brain is thus maintained for a longer

amount of time. Drama provides a disciplined, calm, and hard-

working atmosphere which promotes efficient study skills,

school success and good memory. In this way, drama cultivates

a healthy brain, also showing how the brain strengthens certain

brain functions in a use-it-or-lose-it manner. By using the full

capacity of the brain, the brain becomes active in more areas

and therefore takes longer to decay since more parts of the

brain are active. The acceptance of expressive modality into

psychotherapy as a means to enhance communication and psy-

chological change can be found in such works as McNiff’s

(McNiff, 1981). Drama therapy utilizes drama or theatre to

accomplish the therapeutic goals of emotion and The Arts and

Psychotherapy physical integration towards personal develop-

ment and dysfunctional symptom relief (Malchiodi, 2006).

Scheff opinioned that people seek and enjoy activities that al-

low them to symbolically re-experience their own agonizing

emotional experiences, which brings relief or closure on issues

(Scheff, 2001). There are even early reports that the Egyptians

encouraged people with mental illness to participate in artistic

activity (Fleshman & Fryrear, 1981). Revisiting a historical

precedence provides a perspective that we have been aware of

the relationship of drama and mental health functioning over

hundreds of years.

Still, there is a need for further investigation involving more

empirical studies to examine the claims of previously cited

investigations and studies. While we wait for additional evi-

dence-based analysis, the pure enjoyment that improves one’s

attitude and outlook on life is certainly compelling to continue

the play. The brain is the key to understanding the human uni-

verse, and decoding how the mind works would be ground-

breaking. We are nowhere near that achievement at this time,

but evidence has proven that there are hidden, potential benefits

to drama waiting to be discovered. Based upon the literature,

drama and theater highlight a bright path for understanding the

brain and all that the brain can do, and warrants further re-

search.

REFERENCES

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education. Theory into Practice.

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Bell, C. C. (2012). Prevention in action: Promoting creative engage-

ment in the elderly. Clinical Psychiatry News.

http://www.clinicalpsychiatrynews.com/views/prevention-in-action-b

y-dr-carl-c-bell/blog/promoting-creative-engagement-in-the-elderly/3

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Fleshman, B., & Fryrear, J. (1981). The Arts in therapy. Chicago: Nel-

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Martin, S. (1977). Developmental drama for brain—Damaged children.

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