title: Drawing on the right side of the brain: a voxel-based morphometry analysis of observational drawing.
abstract: Structural brain differences in relation to expertise have been demonstrated in a number of domains including visual perception, spatial navigation, complex motor skills and musical ability. However no studies have assessed the structural differences associated with representational skills in visual art. As training artists are inclined to be a heterogeneous group in terms of their subject matter and chosen media, it was of interest to investigate whether there would be any consistent changes in neural structure in response to increasing representational drawing skill. In the current study a cohort of 44 graduate and post-graduate art students and non-art students completed drawing tasks. Scores on these tasks were then correlated with the regional grey and white matter volume in cortical and subcortical structures. An increase in grey matter density in the left anterior cerebellum and the right medial frontal gyrus was observed in relation to observational drawing ability, whereas artistic training (art students vs. non-art students) was correlated with increased grey matter density in the right precuneus. This suggests that observational drawing ability relates to changes in structures pertaining to fine motor control and procedural memory, and that artistic training in addition is associated with enhancement of structures pertaining to visual imagery. The findings corroborate the findings of small-scale fMRI studies and provide insights into the properties of the developing artistic brain.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: Rebecca.Chamberlain@ppw.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chamberlain
authors.affiliation: Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: I Chris
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, School of Health and Education, Middlesex University, London, UK.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brunswick
authors.affiliation: Royal College of Art, London, UK.
authors.forename: Qona
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Rankin
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Art and Design, Swansea Metropolitan University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK.
authors.forename: Ryota
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kanai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D003405:Creativity; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D010151:Paintings; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Art; Cerebellum; Drawing; Expertise; Voxel-based morphometry