Abstract
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 happenstance, 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 underrated in terms of its influence on brain function and the relationship between environment and brain.
Highlights
Humans interact with each other, but the way in which each individual interacts differs greatly
More than mere coincidence or happenstance, 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
Memory span increased the most with visual arts, both visual arts and theater were significantly higher than the control group without training
Summary
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 combination of different brain compositions, personality traits and cultural-environmental conditions. Intelligence is different from thought as “Humans...emit a response to a stimulus either because it was earlier paired with a reflexive trigger for that response...or because the response was rewarded in the presence of that stimulus” As humans age and 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. Adolescents rely on “fight or flight” hormones and neurotransmitters 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
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