Arts & the Mind

Hosted by Lisa Kudrow, this two-part special reveals the crucial impact of the arts on the human brain across our lifetimes and explores its particularly vital role in human development during youth and older age. The series shares stories of how music, dance, painting, poetry and theater markedly improve well-being at both ends of life, and reveals the cutting-edge science that explains the powerful, positive impact of the arts on our brains. Showcasing some of the nation's most innovative and successful arts programs plus the work of leading American educators and scientists, ARTS & THE MIND illuminates: how the arts can improve children's school performance, and keep our brains agile and sharp into old age; how teenagers find meaning and hope through poetry at a renowned Los Angeles program supported by actor Tim Robbins; how the arts help heal children in hospitals and older veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder; why one of America's leading Alzheimer's researchers advises that dance is the single most effective way to ward off dementia.