New Research

The Relaxation of Regularly Listening to Songs or Drawing Pictures May Actually Slow Cellular Aging, New Research Shows

According to a new study, people who are exposed to art on a weekly basis are about a year younger “biologically” than those exposed only once or twice per year

Sonja Anderson | Daily Correspondent

May 13, 2026 4:39 p.m.

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If you actively listen to music, read a book or look at art at least once per week, you may live longer than those who don’t.

That’s according to a new study published in the journal Innovation in Aging by researchers from the University College of London. The scientists analyzed blood samples and survey data from around 3,500 adults in the United Kingdom, and they found a correlation between arts and cultural engagement and slower epigenetic aging.

“We found in this study that ‘arts engagement’ was related to 4 percent slower aging rates, meaning people were about a year younger, biologically, if they were regularly engaged in the arts,” lead study author Daisy Fancourt, a psychobiologist at the college, tells Morning Edition’s Allison Aubrey. “This is actually the same reduction in biological aging that we saw for physical activity.”

The researchers measured each participant’s “biological age,” which differs from chronological age. It’s calculated by measuring one’s “accumulation of cellular damage over time.” Steven Horvath, a geneticist and biostatistician at UCLA, developed one of the key methods, or “clocks,” researchers use to figure biological age. It measures DNA methylation, which represses gene function.

For the recent study, Fancourt and her colleagues used data from the Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study, an ongoing survey of 40,000 U.K. households that began in 2009. Between 2010 and 2012, as part of the longitudinal study, nurses collected blood samples from thousands of white participants. In the same period, researchers also administered a survey “which included a special module on leisure activities,” per the recent study.

The University College London researchers entered this data into seven epigenetic clocks, including two of Horvath’s. Three of the clocks showed that both arts engagement and physical activity were related to slower epigenetic aging.

“I think this is a very rigorous study, and what is particularly new to me is that arts engagement may have comparable effects to physical activity,” Horvath tells Morning Edition. “Overall, I feel this study moves the epigenetic clock field to new frontiers.”

Scientists had already linked exercise to slower biological aging: A 2017 study found that aerobically active people’s telomeres—chromosome endcaps that shrink with each cell replication—are longer than sedentary people’s. But the effects of leisure activities, like going to a concert or watching a play, haven’t been well studied.

“Many of us know instinctively that taking part in creative and cultural activities is vital for a happy, flourishing life,” Hollie Smith-Charles, a director at Arts Council England, tells the Guardian’s Denis Campbell.

But how do these activities affect our genes at the cellular level? Doug Vaughan, a cardiologist at Northwestern University, tells Morning Edition that creative activities can lower stress. A 2016 study found that after making art for 45 minutes, participants’ cortisol levels dropped. Vaughan says a reduction of long-term stress levels may lower inflammation in the body, which is linked to biological aging. (Also known as “inflammageing,” write the researchers.)

“The arts, or being creative or enjoying the arts, is a non-pharmacological intervention,” Vaughan tells Morning Edition. “The biology is pretty clear.”

The researchers found that links between arts engagement and slower aging were strongest among adults over 40. The links remained even after the researchers accounted for other longevity factors, like BMI and whether a person smokes.

But it’s not just frequency that matters here, Fancourt tells the Art Newspaper’s Aimee Dawson.

“Each type of arts activity—reading, making music, going to cultural performances, visiting heritage sites, et cetera—has different effects on us cognitively, emotionally and physiologically,” Fancourt says. “So engaging in a diverse range of activities—just like having lots of different plants in our diets—is most beneficial for our health.”

Sonja Anderson | Read More

Sonja Anderson is a writer and reporter based in Chicago.