Summary: Researchers report that analysing the painting styles of artists using mathematical methods can reveal signs of neurodegenerative disorders before clinical diagnosis.
Source: University of Liverpool.
New research from the University of Liverpool, published in Neuropsychology, indicates that subtle changes in artists’ brushwork can help detect early signs of neurodegenerative disease.
Psychologist Dr Alex Forsythe of the University of Liverpool’s School of Psychology, together with Dr Tamsin Williams (Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust) and collaborators at Vale of York and Maynooth University, examined a large collection of paintings to explore whether mathematical analysis of painting style can reveal cognitive decline.
The team analysed 2,092 digitised paintings created over the careers of seven well-known artists who experienced different ageing trajectories. Among them, two artists later developed Parkinson’s disease (Salvador Dalí and Norval Morrisseau), two experienced Alzheimer’s disease (James Brooks and Willem de Kooning), and three showed no recorded neurodegenerative disorders (Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet). The study compared how properties of their brushwork changed with age and whether those changes matched patterns expected from normal ageing or from emerging neurological conditions.
Fractal analyses
To quantify brushstroke structure, the researchers used fractal analysis—a mathematical approach that characterises repeating, self-similar patterns. Fractals capture complex geometric structure and are often referred to as “fingerprints of nature,” appearing in clouds, coastlines, trees and other natural forms. In art research, fractal measures have previously helped distinguish authentic works from imitators by identifying an artist’s characteristic patterning.
Applying fractal analysis to high-resolution images of paintings allowed the team to measure the complexity and scaling properties of brushstrokes across each artist’s body of work. Although artists may adopt different styles or genres across their careers, the fractal dimension associated with their brushwork tends to reflect a consistent, individual pattern—one that may alter if motor control, perception, or cognitive planning change with disease.
Patterns of change
Analysing temporal trends in fractal dimension across each artist’s career, the researchers sought to distinguish ordinary age-related shifts in style from changes that might reflect emerging cognitive or motor impairments. The results revealed consistent patterns: artists who later developed neurodegenerative disorders showed distinctive shifts in the fractal properties of their paintings that differed from age-matched controls who did not experience such disorders.
These findings suggest that systematic changes in the structural complexity of brushwork—captured by fractal metrics—can serve as markers of atypical neurological change. While ageing affects artistic production in many ways, the study indicates that some alterations are specific to underlying neurodegeneration rather than to normal ageing alone.
Dr Alex Forsythe commented that art has long been used in therapeutic and diagnostic contexts, and that their approach builds on this tradition by treating each artist’s brushwork as a unique “handwriting.” By quantifying that visual signature with mathematical tools, it may become possible to detect early signs of neurological problems earlier than current clinical practice allows. The authors hope this line of research will motivate further studies into non-invasive, image-based biomarkers for cognitive decline.
Source: University of Liverpool
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image noted as public domain in the original report.
Original Research: Forsythe A., Williams T., and Reilly R. G., “What paint can tell us: A fractal analysis of neurological changes in seven artists,” published in Neuropsychology (2016). The study used fractal measures to analyse 2,092 digital images spanning seven artists’ careers to investigate links between changes in brushstroke structure and neurological decline.
What paint can tell us: A fractal analysis of neurological changes in seven artists
Objective: The study evaluates whether changes in fractal dimension of paintings across an artist’s lifetime can anticipate or reflect cognitive deterioration associated with neurodegenerative disease, as opposed to variation due solely to normal ageing.
Method: The authors applied fractal analysis to a corpus of 2,092 digitised paintings produced by seven notable artists. The sample included artists who later developed Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease and artists with no recorded neurodegenerative conditions. The analysis examined age-indexed variations in fractal dimension and tracked temporal patterns within individual careers.
Results: Patterns of change in fractal dimension reliably distinguished artists who experienced neurological deterioration from those who aged without such diagnoses. Distinct shifts in fractal properties corresponded with the artists’ clinical histories.
Conclusions: These results suggest fractal analysis can both contribute to provenance and authenticity studies and serve as a potential non-invasive tool to flag atypical changes in artistic production that may indicate early-stage neurological decline. The authors call for further research to validate and extend these findings in larger, independent datasets.
Researchers and clinicians interested in early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders may find the application of image analysis and fractal metrics to artistic output a promising avenue for future investigation.