Short literature review on research investigating the health benefits of pottery.

• Due to the transition from manual labour to technological labour we seek opportunities to participate in activities that give us pleasure and equilibrium

• Pottery is valuable due to the involvement of dexterity, especially given the amount of brain area devoted to the sensitivity and movement of our hands | https://www.bridgestorecovery.com/blog/neuroscience-could-explain-why-pottery-is-good-for-depression/ | | Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants' Responses Following Art Making | Girija Kaimal, Kendra Ray and Juan Muniz | 02/04/2016 | This quasi-experimental study investigated the impact of visual art making on the cortisol levels of 39 healthy adults. | - A 45 minute art therapy session (including clay modelling) showed a reduction in cortisol levels for 75% of participants | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5004743/#:~:text=Participants provided saliva samples to,significant lowering of cortisol levels. | | 6 Health Benefits of Making Pottery | Fowlers Clay Works | N.D | | - Because it reduces cortisol levels, pottery can be a natural pain killer

• Practising potteries enables the mind and body to enter a meditative state which contributes to emotional stability | https://fowlersclayworks.com/health-benefits-of-making-pottery/ | | Creative practice with clay: A mutual route to recovery? | Elaine Argyle & Gary Winship | ND | | - Clay work is regarded as being both tactile and kinaesthetic involving the sense of touch and physical interaction which has been found to be innately therapeutic [Henley, 1999]

• It has regressive qualities in that it is widely used by and accessible to children (White 2006) and can link adults to their childhood experiences (Elkis-Abuhoff et al. 2008).

• The sense of achievement, increasing confidence and self-esteem that can result from this work can also be beneficial (White 2006).

• Clay work taking place in a group can promote mutual interaction and learning, facilitate the group’s supportive capacities and establish sustained social contacts as a result of shared experiences (Argyle and Winship 2015).

• Scores significantly improved for both social inclusion and mental well-being over the course of the workshops

• The final outcome was not found to be important ‘It's not that I have made anything of merit or any use, it is just that it has memories attached to it’ The statistical findings of this research shows that the psychological well-being of participants (Tennant et al. 2007) significantly improved on all measures throughout all three blocks of workshops | https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/18ad/6a537712d138e9a187c2755b7b498853ad10.pdf | | Comparison of Brain Activity During Drawing and Clay Sculpting: A Preliminary qEEG Study | Kruk et als | June 2014 | Preliminary experimental study examined brain wave frequency patterns of 14 female participants in clay sculpting and drawing. The quantitative electroencephalographic (qEEG) were recorded at bilateral medial frontal cortex and bilateral medial parietal cortex of each participant | - Clay-sculpting has been shown to activate memory processes, induce meditative and emotional states through elevated theta wave frequency, and enhance spatial–temporal processing in the brain.

• The results showed the importance of the right medial parietal lobe in Clay-sculpting which activate memory, meditative and emotional states, and spatial–temporal processing | | | The Effect of Art Therapy with Clay on Hopelessness Levels Among Neurology Patients | Khan Lu et al | January 2017 | Performed clay art therapy on 50 neurology patients: 17 epilepsy and 33 stroke patient and used the Beck Hopelessness Scale [BHS] to determine if the art therapy decreases the feeling of hopelessness | - Scores were lower in women, in married patients, in stroke and chronic disease patients, people without psychological illness, and children. | Kruk KA, Aravich PF, Deaver SP, deBeus R . Comparison of Brain Activity During Drawing and Clay Sculpting: A Preliminary qEEG Study. Art Therapy 2014; 31(2): 52-60, DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2014.903826 | | The Applied Effectiveness of Clay Art Therapy for Patients With Parkinson's Disease | Bae YS et al | 2018 | This study investigates how clay art therapy affects Parkinson's disease patients' overall mental and physical condition as well as future treatment potentiality. The research was nonequivalent control groups pre and post study. A total of 54 patients with Parkinson's disease (control = 28, experimental = 26) were recruited from 3 setting locations in South Korea. Test measures were completed before and after the 16 sessions. The experimental group received two 80-minute evaluations per week for 8 weeks. Demographic information: hand dexterity, self-expression, mood depression, and quality of life measurements. | - There were significant better in hand dexterity, self-expression, mood depression, and quality of life in the clay art therapy group compare to control group. Moreover, free clay manipulation is an effective sensorimotor modeling which helps alleviate muscle rigidity, tremors, fatigue, impaired speech, and sleep disorders as well. | Bae YS,Kim DH. The Applied Effectiveness of Clay Art Therapy for Patients With Parkinson's Disease. J Evid Based Integr Med. 2018;23: 2515690X18765943.doi: 10.1177/2515690X18765943. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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