Dialogues Between Neuroscience and Society: Susan Magsamen on Science, Art, and Aesthetic Experiences

Susan Magsamen, MAS, is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a faculty member in the Department of Neurology. Magsamen also serves as co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint, a joint initiative with Johns Hopkins University and the Aspen Institute that aims to embed the arts and aesthetics into the fabric of medicine, public health, and learning. Magsamen’s work explores how art and aesthetic experiences measurably change the brain, body, and behavior, and how this knowledge can be applied to improve health, wellbeing, and learning across medicine, public health, and education. Magsamen has founded several art education companies including Curiosity Kits and Curiosityville and has authored and co-authored several books including the New York Times bestseller, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.