Comparison of Brain Activity During Drawing and Clay Sculpting: A Preliminary qEEG Study

Abstract

A preliminary experimental study examined brain wave frequency patterns of female participants (N = 14) engaged in two different art making conditions: clay sculpting and drawing. After controlling for nonspecific effects of movement, quantitative electroencephalographic (qEEG) recordings were made of the bilateral medial frontal cortex and bilateral medial parietal cortex of each participant. Results showed that both clay sculpting and drawing increased gamma power in the right medial parietal lobe compared to general movement, and unlike drawing, clay sculpting decreased right medial frontal gamma power and elevated theta power. The findings support neuroscience literature that implicates the importance of the right medial parietal lobe in art making, and the activation of memory processes, meditative and emotional states, and spatial–temporal processing that occur. Implications for art therapy are discussed.