The earliest evidence of drawings produced by a human being is in the shape of geometric patterns carved onto rocks. These are between 75,000 and 100,000 years old, however some academics believe that the ancestors of modern humans engaged in artistic activities as long as 500,000 years ago. The oldest known representational works, found in Indonesian caves, date to more than 50,000 years ago.

Paintings in the Lascaux caves (Montignac, Dordogne, France)

Drawing is a continuous thread in the human story – an activity fused with our evolution like no other. From the earliest lines of pigment adorning cave walls to drawings made yesterday, the urge to represent the world is a unique and unchanged function of human behaviour. It is the fountainhead of artistic endeavour, giving birth to writing and literature along with the graphic capture and communication of music. In the words of Vincent van Gogh, 'drawing is the root of everything.'

Although the greatest artists have recognised and understood the profound importance of drawing, modern society has neglected it. Drawing is often relegated to the outer edges of art and its role in education largely disappears beyond primary school. Drawing has fallen out of fashion, even in some art schools, and is no longer part of the core curriculum.

Recent advances in neuroimaging and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) technology have generated a growing body of evidence demonstrating the direct impact of the arts on the human brain, biology and behaviour. Neuroscience reveals how aesthetic experiences infiltrate the brain through our senses and profoundly impact our biological matrix. Scientists can now identify biomarkers of this, bringing objective, measurable ways to characterise changes in the brain.

A Human Head and Neck Dissected and Seen from the Side, with the Brain Exposed and Pinned

Neuroaesthetics, a relatively new branch of science, studies the biological effects of art appreciation and practice. Exciting discoveries in neuroaesthetics point to enormous, wide-ranging health and learning benefits of art, and challenge many long-held presumptions about the human brain.

Creating visual artworks has been shown to enhance critical thinking and psychological resilience whilst improving and strengthening connections between different brain regions.

Observational drawing, or drawing from life, is a particularly comprehensive skill which involves visuospatial processing, eye-hand coordination and other higher-order cognitive functions.

A study in 2014 concluded that observational drawing promoted plasticity in neural pathways that enabled creative cognition and managed integration with motor functions. Subjects taking part became more creative – via the reorganisation of prefrontal white matter – when engaged in drawing the human figure.

Another study established that drawing activates the prefrontal cortex: the site of some of the most complex human thinking. Highly focussed encoding of an object is necessary during the practice of drawing a three-dimensional view because it involves transforming one's spatial appreciation of an object from a world-centred space to one centred within one's own body.

During drawing activities, a recent study found that the connection between the occipital cortex (the visual processing centre) and parietal cortex (an area involved in motor planning) grew more distinct. Drawing is a process by which the brain transforms perceptions into actions, and in doing so, it enhances the brain's ability to share information and think critically.

This widespread web of activity has been confirmed to growth and strengthen cerebral structure. Neuroscientists in Belgium produced a study in 2014, asserting that artists may have increased neural matter in the parts of their brains that deal with visual perception, spatial navigation and fine motor skills. Researchers found that increased amounts of grey and white matter occur on both sides of the brain, a fact that could begin to dispel the idea of a right/left brain distinction being linked to creativity. It seems that the range of brain areas employed specific to drawing is very complex and only recently coming to light.

'The people who are better at drawing really seem to have more developed structures in regions of the brain that control fine motor performance and what we call procedural memory,' said Rebecca Chamberlain, the study's lead author, from KU Leuven University.

Diagram of the Brain for a Phrenological Textbook

'Effects of Drawing on Alpha Activity', published in 2014, generated results which suggest alpha rhythm may play an important role in drawing. Brain activity is made up of electrical impulses (known as 'waves') of varying magnitude and speed that form connections across the brain. Alpha waves fall into the middle range of these impulses and alpha rhythm is associated with self-regulation, relaxation, memory, visual processing, intelligence and creativity. The connection between these key brain waves and drawing has profound implications for the use of the arts in therapy and early education.

Research at Waterloo University, Ontario, in 2018, showed that in a learning environment, drawing-received information significantly enhanced memory and understanding. Drawing was found to reliably show greater and more replicable gains, which proved superior to other techniques such as self-explanation, visualisation, writing or even tracing information that was to be remembered. This effect was greater in participants who had prior proficiency in drawing. The study concluded that 'drawing improves memory by promoting the integration of elaborative, pictorial, and motor codes, facilitating creation of a context-rich representation.'

A Life Class in Rome with a Model Posed as a Crucified Man with an écorché Figure to the Left

Such examples of continuing research provide more evidence to support the teaching of drawing as an educational basic. It is a way of communicating with and developing a student's mind, free from manufactured, technological interface. Handwriting, a more commonly practised form of drawing, is itself rapidly eroding within education and broader life, yet has been shown to have superior influence on brain health, functionality and growth over the use of a keyboard alone.

Even the humble, much-maligned practice of doodling is now found to have broad and beneficial effects on brain health, similar to those exhibited with meditation.

In a world of expensive screens and interfaces designed by others, drawing offers a priceless antidote, returning us to our evolutionary path and re-igniting systems that are millennia in the making.

There are volumes of examples of the great and wise extolling the ineffable virtues of drawing, but there can be no more doubt that drawing has incalculable value for human wellbeing. Should our society not engender greater importance to a deceptively simple educational and health resource which requires no expensive equipment or studio space, just a pencil and paper?

The benefits to learning, memory and mental health alone can now be proven but still there is so much we do not yet understand. It will be fascinating to see what future research discovers about the profound nature and effects of drawing.

Patrick Downing, artist and architect

This content was funded by the Bridget Riley Art Foundation