Many people walk into a museum without really knowing what art does to them. One person focuses intensely on the details of the canvas, another tries to unpack the story hidden beneath the paint, and someone else thinks: okay… now what? Yet art might impact us in interesting ways, often without us noticing. To understand that better, I spoke with postdoc Mackenzie Trupp, who studies how art experiences can influence our well-being.
We tend to treat the mind and the brain as two different things. But modern neuroscience proved otherwise: Every meaningful conversation actually physically rewires us.
Don’t play random music while viewing art because what you hear may just change how beautiful the artwork is.
A city has no brain, yet it can produce ideas that no single person planned. By shaping whom we meet and how knowledge moves, cities change how we think together. Perhaps urban intelligence lies not inside the city, but in the connections it creates.
Researchers in Nijmegen found a way to influence a key brain region involved in fear. The headlines soon announced an ‘off switch for fear’, which sounds rather spectacular. But the real story may be even more interesting. We are beginning to understand why fear switches on so quickly—and why it is so difficult to switch off again.
Most people associate estrogen with ovaries, puberty, periods, or hot flashes, but what if I told you this hormone shapes how you think, feel, and even connect with others?
Donders Wonders Summer Series As many of our readers are enjoying a well-deserved summer break,
People are crazy about categories. They make the world clear and manageable: this is this, that is that. Such categorisation is useful for organising thoughts, making decisions, and tackling complex matters. But there is a downside to it. The moment we squeeze reality too tightly into boxes, we sacrifice nuance. The world does not resemble grid paper, it is a multi-layered canvas—and our brains are no different.
Donders Wonders Summer Series As many of our readers are enjoying a well-deserved summer break,
As many of our readers are enjoying a well-deserved summer break, Donders Wonders writers will
The quiet magic of looking at art 
The Weight of Words: How Therapy Rewires the Brain 
Why art becomes more beautiful when image and music align 
