Pick Up a Paintbrush — Your Mind Might Thank You
As an undergrad, Lucas Bellaiche studied music and statistics. At Duke, he’s researching how science and the arts can improve mental health. (Photo courtesy of Bellaiche)
Recently published research from Duke’s LaBar Lab reveals that painting isn’t just creative — it’s calming.
In the study, 99 Duke-affiliated students and staff performed one of two leisure activities on alternate days: abstract painting and solving mazes. While wearing Fitbits to monitor physiological responses, participants consistently experienced greater reductions in anxiety after painting compared to solving mazes, regardless of their level of art experience or prior mental health history.
Lucas Bellaiche, a Ph.D. candidate with the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and a member of the LaBar Lab, explains that abstract painting was chosen because it offers a “literal blank slate” for creative expression without the constraints of more structured art forms. His previous research has shown that this open-ended approach effectively engages the creative process across all experience levels.
For the control task, the team decided on solving mazes because although it involved similar movements and cognitive efforts, it was also structured, rule-based and anything but creative. This allowed the team to tease apart the effect of creativity. “We compared how the participants felt before and after both tasks, as well as how their heart rates changed during each exercise,” Bellaiche explains.
Overall, the findings highlight painting’s accessibility as a calming activity for people regardless of prior experience and show that the extent of anxiety reduction was tied to how much participants’ heart rates increased during the activity.
“This suggests an interesting pattern, where the more engaged people became during painting, the calmer they felt afterwards,” Bellaiche shares. “However, there’s also a hint that people with creative training might engage differently, as those individuals found it easier to experience the higher level of engagement that enhances the calming benefit.”
Bellaiche has long been drawn to the connection between artistic creativity and the neuroscience of emotions, thanks to his parents. His father, a computational physicist, and his mother, an artist, embodied that blending of seemingly opposite worlds.
“I was raised in this beautifully complex integration of arts and science, and, in my cognitive process of integrating two things that don’t seem to fit with each other, I became fascinated with how unlikely pairings come together in this psychology of creativity.”
As an undergraduate, he studied both music and statistics — fields that may seem worlds apart but share a deep reliance on patterns, structure and expression. Music gave him a first-hand appreciation for the emotional power of creative practice, while statistics trained him to measure and analyze phenomena with precision. Together, those foundations shaped the questions he now pursues in his Ph.D. research: Where can science and art meet to support mental health?
That same curiosity about bridging disciplines is what drew Bellaiche to Duke. The emphasis on interdisciplinary research and scholars who value both rigorous scientific methods and the exploration of human experience offered the perfect environment to pursue his research. In the LaBar Lab, he found a space where neuroscience, psychology and creativity could intersect, allowing him to investigate how artistic practices like painting might not only express emotion but also measurably improve mental health.
“Honestly, I didn’t find another Ph.D. program that facilitates this level of interdisciplinary thought and collaboration,” he shares. “Duke faculty have spent decades building deep expertise in their fields, yet they are able to step back and see things through a completely different lens. That kind of openness, after a lifetime of research, takes a lot of humility.”
Bellaiche hopes the interdisciplinary openness and humility continue into the next stages of the team’s research. Building on the current findings, he envisions work that not only deepens understanding of how creativity shapes emotional regulation but also translates into practical applications.
“Expanding into other creative domains, where scientists and artists collaborate, could eventually provide additional outlets to help those struggling with anxiety and mental health,” he shares. “I believe science and art can work together to create tangible improvements in mental well-being and emotional healing.”
