(STUDY FINDS) -- LONDON — When was your last visit to the local art gallery? If you haven’t indulged in some culture in a while, you should probably make your way to a museum or symphony sometime soon, according to a new study conducted at University College London. The research team have found that older adults can prolong their lifespans and lower risk of death by regularly enjoying the finer things in life — art galleries, museums, concerts, operas, stage theatre productions, etc.
Previous research had already found that enjoying the arts can improve one’s physical and mental health, more specifically reducing the odds of developing depression, frailty, chronic pain, and dementia. However, none of those studies had investigated if becoming more cultured actually extended lifespan.
With this in mind, the study’s authors set out to investigate the relationship between fine art engagement and mortality. For their analysis, data on over 6,000 English adults over the age of 50 who had taken part in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) was used.
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