Presentation Information
[SY-11-03]Beyond Language: AI-Based Visual Metrics of Art-Making Reveal Cross-Cultural Pathways to Psychological Resilience in Psychiatry
*Itsuo Asai (Heart Clinic Medical Corporation(Japan))
Keywords:
Art Therapy,AI Visual Analysis,Psychological Resilience,Cross-Cultural Psychiatry,Non-Verbal Assessment
Background:
International mental health policy increasingly recognizes the arts as integral to well-being. The WHO’s 2019 landmark report and the WPA’s 2022 Position Statement call for embedding arts-based interventions in psychiatric care, underscoring their capacity to engage pre-verbal, culturally nuanced dimensions of human experience. Yet traditional assessments relying on verbal self-reports (BDI, CES-D) often fail to capture subtle, embodied psychological shifts fostered by art.
Methods:
We enrolled 25 patients (ICD-10: schizophrenia, depression, ASD, intellectual disabilities) who created paired drawings reflecting daily states and post-art feelings. AI-driven analyses (Hough lines, HSV color metrics, movement matrices) quantified shifts in curves, hue diversity, brightness, and kinetic flow. Cohen’s d effect sizes were computed; sentiment changes in captions were tested by paired t-tests. We also conducted 3-month follow-ups in a subset (n=8) and initiated feasibility pilots in Japan, Canada, Pakistan, Argentina, and France.
Results:
Post-art, drawings showed significantly more curves, richer hues, heightened brightness, and increased movement (p < 0.01; d = 0.8–1.2). Captions did not significantly change (p ≈ 0.6), affirming the limitations of language-based tools. At 3 months, partial maintenance of visual transformation was observed (movement score: d=0.42). Early cultural pilots revealed divergence in color symbolism—white linked to hope in Canada, mourning in Japan and Pakistan.
Discussion:
This suggests art may restructure aesthetic markers of psychological flexibility, transcending symptom-focused models. Integrating direct visual metrics with local cultural interpretations could transform global psychiatry’s approach to non-verbal indicators of resilience. Initial funding dialogues with AMED and CIHR support future multinational RCTs.
Conclusions:
Our work advances art-making from adjunct to core therapeutic modality—rooted in rigorous data, culturally attuned, and ethically imperative by honoring patients who cannot readily verbalize distress.
International mental health policy increasingly recognizes the arts as integral to well-being. The WHO’s 2019 landmark report and the WPA’s 2022 Position Statement call for embedding arts-based interventions in psychiatric care, underscoring their capacity to engage pre-verbal, culturally nuanced dimensions of human experience. Yet traditional assessments relying on verbal self-reports (BDI, CES-D) often fail to capture subtle, embodied psychological shifts fostered by art.
Methods:
We enrolled 25 patients (ICD-10: schizophrenia, depression, ASD, intellectual disabilities) who created paired drawings reflecting daily states and post-art feelings. AI-driven analyses (Hough lines, HSV color metrics, movement matrices) quantified shifts in curves, hue diversity, brightness, and kinetic flow. Cohen’s d effect sizes were computed; sentiment changes in captions were tested by paired t-tests. We also conducted 3-month follow-ups in a subset (n=8) and initiated feasibility pilots in Japan, Canada, Pakistan, Argentina, and France.
Results:
Post-art, drawings showed significantly more curves, richer hues, heightened brightness, and increased movement (p < 0.01; d = 0.8–1.2). Captions did not significantly change (p ≈ 0.6), affirming the limitations of language-based tools. At 3 months, partial maintenance of visual transformation was observed (movement score: d=0.42). Early cultural pilots revealed divergence in color symbolism—white linked to hope in Canada, mourning in Japan and Pakistan.
Discussion:
This suggests art may restructure aesthetic markers of psychological flexibility, transcending symptom-focused models. Integrating direct visual metrics with local cultural interpretations could transform global psychiatry’s approach to non-verbal indicators of resilience. Initial funding dialogues with AMED and CIHR support future multinational RCTs.
Conclusions:
Our work advances art-making from adjunct to core therapeutic modality—rooted in rigorous data, culturally attuned, and ethically imperative by honoring patients who cannot readily verbalize distress.