We all want to stay sharp as we move through life.
I’ve written a lot about mental fitness before, but this one struck me personally. A new international study found that people who regularly engage in creative practices have brains that look seven years younger than their actual age. Seven years. That’s not small.
The researchers, from the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, used neuroimaging data to study brain “age gaps.” They discovered that adults who frequently take part in creative activities such as music, writing, dance, or crafts tend to show younger neural profiles than their peers.
That means creativity isn’t just about expression; it’s a kind of brain exercise. Below are eight creative skills that may literally keep your brain younger, backed by psychology and science, with a few observations from my own experience thrown in.
1) Playing a musical instrument
If there’s one creative activity that shows up again and again in brain-aging research, it’s music.
When you play an instrument, you’re not just moving your hands; you’re processing pitch, rhythm, timing, and emotion. You’re reading or remembering notes, coordinating muscle movement, and listening closely for feedback. That’s multiple brain regions working together in real time.
A 2024 eLife paper found that musicians tend to maintain stronger white-matter integrity and higher neural efficiency in older age.
I started revisiting my old music-blogger roots and picked up a ukulele last year. I won’t be winning any Grammys, but the process of learning new chords and strumming patterns feels like mental yoga. It forces focus and flexibility in equal measure.
Even 10 to 15 minutes of practice a few times a week can make a difference. The goal isn’t mastery; it’s engagement.
2) Visual arts (painting, drawing, digital art)
If music isn’t your thing, pick up a pencil. Or a stylus.
Visual arts such as painting, drawing, sculpting, or even digital illustration light up brain regions tied to spatial awareness, visual memory, and creative planning. Studies show that people who regularly engage in artistic expression have better cognitive flexibility and stronger emotional regulation.
During a trip to Costa Rica a few years ago, I took a one-day outdoor sketching class. I was awful at it. But here’s what surprised me: focusing on the interplay of light and shadow, seeing how colors shift at different times of day, it changed how I noticed the world afterward.
Creativity rewires perception. That’s what keeps the brain young; it keeps it curious.
3) Dance and movement arts
Ever noticed how dancers seem ageless? There’s science behind that.
Dancing doesn’t just engage the body; it stimulates the cerebellum, hippocampus, and motor cortex, all areas tied to coordination and memory. Tango dancers, in particular, have shown slower cognitive decline compared to non-dancers.
Dance blends rhythm, movement, emotion, and improvisation. It’s one of the most “whole-brain” creative practices out there.
I’m not naturally coordinated, but a few summers ago, I joined a friend for a salsa class in Los Angeles. Between laughing at my two left feet and trying to follow the beat, I realized how alive I felt. My brain was firing on all cylinders, anticipating, reacting, adapting.
You don’t have to join a dance troupe. Even a weekly class, or moving freely to your favorite song in your living room, counts.
4) Photography and visual composition
Photography gets overlooked in the creative skill conversation, but it shouldn’t.
When you compose a shot, you’re making a thousand micro-decisions: where to focus, what to include, what to leave out. You’re adjusting light, color, and angle. You’re engaging visual-spatial reasoning, memory, and intuition simultaneously.
I’ve been doing street photography around Los Angeles lately. Carrying a camera changes the way I walk. I’m scanning for patterns, reflections, small stories in motion. It’s not just about taking a photo; it’s about learning to see. That mental habit of curiosity keeps the brain active and alert.
If you’re new to it, start with your phone. Limit yourself to one theme, say, reflections or textures, and shoot three photos a day. It’s like mindfulness training with a creative edge.
5) Improvisational writing or storytelling
Writing is another powerful way to keep your brain elastic.
But here’s the key. It has to be creative writing, not just work emails or to-do lists. When you write stories, poems, or reflective essays, you’re engaging what psychologists call divergent thinking, the ability to generate many ideas from one prompt. That’s one of the cognitive abilities most strongly linked to creative intelligence.
When I travel, I sometimes write short micro-stories about the people I meet, a cab driver in Bangkok, a barista in Lisbon, a musician in Oaxaca. It’s not about publishing them; it’s about connecting dots and seeing meaning in small moments.
Want to try it? Open your notes app, pick a random object near you, and write a short story that begins with, “This object has a secret.” Don’t edit yourself. Just write for five minutes. Your prefrontal cortex will thank you.
6) Strategic games or creative gaming
Let’s clear something up. Video games, board games, and puzzles can be good for your brain if they’re strategic or creative.
A 2024 review of over 20 studies found that people who regularly played complex games like chess, strategy video games, or world-building sims had improved cognitive flexibility and delayed signs of brain aging.
The reason? Strategy games demand decision-making, pattern recognition, and adaptation, all cognitive skills that tend to decline with age if left unchallenged.
When I was traveling in Japan, a friend introduced me to Go. I didn’t know the rules, but once I started, I was hooked. The strategic depth is unreal. You think ten moves ahead, and it humbles you every time. That’s what the brain thrives on, challenge with feedback.
So yes, if you play thoughtful games regularly, it’s not wasting time. It’s brain training disguised as fun.
7) Crafting or building things (DIY)
If you prefer something tangible, crafting and DIY projects are gold.
These activities such as woodworking, sewing, gardening, or building furniture combine problem-solving with fine motor control. Research from the Mayo Clinic found that older adults who frequently engaged in hands-on creative activities had a 30 percent lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment.
Last year I built a small bookshelf for my vegan cookbook collection. It took twice as long as expected, and the paint job wasn’t perfect, but I noticed how mentally stimulating it was. I had to plan, measure, visualize, and adjust. Every mistake was a mini-lesson in spatial reasoning.
The satisfaction you get when you finish something with your hands isn’t just emotional; it’s neurological. It tells your brain, “We can still learn new tricks.”
8) Multimodal creative mixing (combining skills)
This last one is where things get interesting.
Researchers call it cross-domain creativity, combining two or more creative modes, like music and art, or photography and writing.
People who engage in multimodal creative projects show higher integration between brain networks that don’t usually talk to each other. That cross-activation is believed to buffer against cognitive aging.
For example, I once challenged myself to write a short instrumental track, photograph an image that matched its mood, and write a short essay connecting the two. It was clumsy, but it was fun. And the mental engagement was next-level.
The point isn’t perfection; it’s exploration. Try mixing two creative hobbies you already enjoy. You’ll stretch different neural circuits at once, which is exactly what the science says keeps the brain youthful.
How to start if you feel “non-creative”
Here’s the secret: creativity isn’t a talent; it’s a muscle.
You can build it gradually by choosing small, doable actions:
- Play a short piece on an instrument you already have at home.
- Sketch one object from your day before bed.
- Take one creative photo a day for a week.
- Journal using prompts like “What did I notice today that I usually ignore?”
- Learn a simple dance routine on YouTube.
- Build or repair something small with your hands.
- Blend two of the above.
The goal is to engage curiosity, not to perform.
After a few weeks, you’ll likely notice your attention feels sharper, your mood lighter, and your perspective wider. Those are all signs that your brain is adapting, and that’s exactly what keeps it youthful.
My takeaway
As someone who writes about psychology and decision-making, I find this body of research oddly reassuring. It means our hobbies aren’t distractions from real life; they’re part of maintaining it.
The older I get, the more I realize creativity isn’t about making art; it’s about staying awake to the world. It’s how we keep seeing beauty in small things, keep questioning, keep inventing. And it just so happens that those same habits might help our brains stay seven years younger.
So, whatever creative spark you’ve been ignoring, pick it up. Nurture it. Let it grow messy and unpredictable.
Your future self and your brain will thank you for it.
