If you’ve ever justified a museum afternoon or concert ticket as“good for the soul,”congratulations—you’ve been onto something science just proved at the cellular level.
Researchers at University College London analyzed blood work and survey data from over 3,500 UK adults and found that people who regularly engage with arts and cultural activities—think concerts, museum visits, reading—are literally aging slower than their peers. The study, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, tracked age-related DNA changes and found that frequent arts engagement slowed biological aging at a rate comparable to weekly exercise. Weekly participation in arts activities correlated with a 4% slower aging pace, matching the benefit of people who exercise at least once a week versus sedentary folks.
But here’s where it gets interesting: in one specific measure of biological age (the PhenoAge clock), arts enthusiasts came out ahead even of exercisers. People engaging with cultural activities weekly averaged a full year younger biologically than those who rarely participated—while weekly exercisers aged just half a year slower. That’s not a typo. Your standing date with live music might be beating your gym membership.
Lead author Professor Daisy Fancourt emphasized that these findings“demonstrate the health impact of the arts at a biological level,”suggesting that arts and cultural engagement deserves recognition as a health-promoting behavior right alongside exercise. The research team also noted something practical: variety matters. Engaging with different types of arts—some music, some museums, some reading—might offer additional benefits because each activity engages different mental and physical systems. Three times a year? That’s 2% slower aging. Monthly? Three percent. Weekly? You’re at four percent.
Dr. Feifei Bu noted that the research aligns with growing evidence that arts engagement reduces stress, lowers inflammation, and improves cardiovascular health—basically all the perks we already credit to exercise. The study controlled for factors like BMI, smoking, education, and income, so this wasn’t just rich, healthy people having better life outcomes overall.
So maybe it’s time we stopped treating the arts as luxury and started treating them like preventive medicine. Your future self will thank you—quite literally at the molecular level.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
