The world’s population of adults aged 65 years and older has tripled in approximately 40 years from 258 million in 1980 to 771 million in 2022 and is expected to increase by a further 17% by 2050 (United Nations Department of Economic and Social AffairsPopulation Division, 2022). Under these circumstances, ensuring that older adults maintain healthy lifestyles is an important issue both for individuals and society as a whole. For older adults to live healthy lives, they should have access to learning opportunities, regardless of their age (Hardy et al., 2017; Schoultz et al., 2020). The World Health Organization (World Health Organization, 2015) has recommended lifelong learning and growth for all, regardless of individual ability level, by emphasizing the importance of creating accessible opportunities. Furthermore, society—with increased expectations for the potential of older adults—has undergone a shift in attitudes toward old age, now thought of as a “period of opportunity and wellbeing, with retention, or development, of the psychological resources to cope with life’s challenges” (Bowling, 2007). This highlights the need to create an environment in which older adults can continue to learn new things and assume new challenges.

Among various learning opportunities, participation in artistic activities has been shown to contribute to improvements in cognitive function, mental health, physical functioning, and quality of life among older adults, thereby promoting healthy aging (Groot et al., 2021; Noice et al., 2014; Tymoszuk et al., 2020). Research using large-scale data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study reported that, even after adjusting for confounding factors, engaging in participatory arts for up to 1 hour weekly and receptive arts for up to 3 hours weekly enhanced executive and language functions (Bone et al., 2024). Additionally, continuous participation in participatory art workshops held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was shown to improve the quality of life and health status of community-dwelling older adults (Beauchet et al., 2020). These findings collectively suggest that engagement in artistic activities offers substantial benefits for the health and wellbeing of older adults.

This study focuses on digital art, a relatively new form of artistic expression. As a genre of contemporary art created using digital technologies, digital art expands the boundaries of traditional art and enhances accessibility through technological integration (Srivastava, 2019). Moreover, the use of digital tools promotes greater interaction with science, technology, media, and computers, thereby stimulating aesthetic exploration (Özdemir, 2022). The scope of digital art is broad, but this study focuses specifically on digital visual art characterized by drawing. While digital art encompasses multimedia works and installations, the digital visual art addressed in this study is defined as “activities that involve drawing, painting, photo editing, and other visual expressions using digital devices such as tablet devices and pen tablets.” Digital visual art offers several advantages over traditional analog art, including expanded expressive possibilities, high portability, and ease of operation—specifically, the ability for users to complete tasks with just the touch of a finger (Darewych et al., 2015). Analog art involves the burden of preparing and cleaning tools and materials, compensating line instability due to hand tremors and pen pressure adjustments, and dealing with the fear of the irreversibility of mistakes during the process of creating artwork; the characteristics of digital art, however, can overcome these barriers, providing a more accessible gateway to art activities for older adults. Furthermore, learning multiple real-world skills, including drawing, can enhance cognitive function in older adults (Leanos et al., 2023). Therefore, environments where both artistic and digital skills can be acquired simultaneously through digital visual art are expected to offer significant advantages for older adults. However, it has also been reported that a certain proportion of older adults experience anxiety or resistance when using digital technologies (Di Giacomo et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2023). Thus, it is essential to examine whether digital visual art can serve as a content area that is easily adaptable and accessible for older populations.

Furthermore, compared to traditional art, there is an overwhelming lack of research examining the effects of digital visual art, a topic that necessitates more detailed consideration when aiming for broad application among the older population. Intervention studies on older adults using traditional visual arts—concerning which much knowledge has been accumulated—have reported improvements in various cognitive domains, including global cognitive function (Cetinkaya et al., 2019; Ciasca et al., 2018; Zhao et al., 2018), memory (Lee et al., 2019; Mahendran et al., 2018; Noice et al., 2004), attention (Lee et al., 2019; Mahendran et al., 2018), executive function (Brown et al., 2021; although this intervention primarily involved conceptual art, elements of visual art were included), and cognitive flexibility (Brown et al., 2021). Drawing activities have been suggested to be associated with various domains of cognitive functioning and to promote neuroplasticity (Bolwerk et al., 2014). Among these domains, executive function, which is closely linked to frontal lobe activity, appears to be particularly relevant. Executive function refers to complex cognitive processes that require the integration and coordination of multiple sub-processes to achieve goal-directed behavior (Elliott, 2003). Previous studies investigating the relationship between creative drawing and brain activity have reported increased activation of neural networks associated with executive functions (Bolwerk et al., 2014; Chamberlain et al., 2014; De Pisapia et al., 2016; Raimo et al., 2021). Furthermore, decline in executive functioning is considered a prominent feature of cognitive aging, with significantly lower scores observed among older adults compared to younger individuals (Idowu and Szameitat, 2023). Given this background, creative drawing activities may serve as a promising approach to support and enhance executive functioning in older adults. In terms of psychological outcomes, interventions using traditional visual arts have been shown to reduce depressive symptoms (Ciasca et al., 2018; Hattori et al., 2011; Kang et al., 2010; Kongkasuwan et al., 2016; Pongan et al., 2017) and anxiety (Ciasca et al., 2018). Moreover, a review by McQuade and O’Sullivan (2023) revealed that engagement with visual arts may also contribute to improvements in social factors, such as reduced feelings of loneliness and enhanced sense of community and social connectedness.

In contrast, only a limited number of studies have explored the use of digital art in practice (Choe, 2014; Kaimal et al., 2019; Kim and Chung, 2023; Darewych et al., 2015). While none of these studies specifically targeted older adults, and all four adopted qualitative approaches, they not only highlighted the potential of digital art to enhance mood and facilitate the exploration of creative play in ways that may not be possible in the physical world (Kaimal et al., 2019) but also provided opportunities for enjoyable artistic engagement and vivid expression of positive emotions (Kim and Chung, 2023). Choe (2014) investigated the advantages and disadvantages of using iPads for digital art in art therapy through interviews with experts. While disadvantages include potential technical difficulties, the addictive nature of internet-connected devices, the limited size of the screen (working canvas) compared to traditional media, and a lack of messiness; advantages include being able to easily edit (redo and undo) work, the portability of using a handheld device, the ability to create multiple outcomes of an image, and interactive features. A recent comprehensive review on Digital Creative Art Interventions (DCAIs) targeting older adults identifies DCAIs as an innovative approach to arts-based interventions utilizing digital technologies. The review provides an overview of previous studies in this field, indicating that DCAIs have been implemented through various modalities, including music, dance, museum experiences, photo collages, theater, visual art interactions, and multimodal artistic activities (Du et al., 2025). Moreover, it highlights the substantial potential of DCAIs to serve as novel approaches for promoting the physical and mental health of older adults. However, within this review, only one study addressing visual art was identified, and notably, the intervention did not involve participants in active artistic creation such as drawing or painting. Instead, it focused on full-body engagement with traditional visual art content in an interactive manner (Camurri et al., 2024). This finding underscores the significant lack of empirical evidence regarding visual art interventions utilizing digital technologies specifically designed for older populations. As previously discussed, digital visual art holds several unique features that may enhance, complement, or even yield distinct effects compared to traditional art-based interventions. Given this, the current paucity of research addressing the potential cognitive and psychological benefits of digital visual art among older adults represents a critical gap in the literature. It is therefore essential to investigate how both digital and traditional forms of visual art impact the cognitive and psychological functioning of this population.

Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of digital visual art learning intervention on the cognitive and psychological functions in healthy older adults. We hypothesize that utilizing digital visual art learning will contribute to new approaches to extend older adults’ healthy life span and improve their quality of life.

This study investigated the effects of a 20-session digital visual art learning intervention on cognitive and psychological functions in healthy older adults aged 65 to 74 with no prior experience in art. Although statistical significance was not reached, the IG demonstrated a trend toward improvement on the FAB, a measure of frontal lobe function. In contrast, no significant effects were observed on other cognitive or psychological indicators, suggesting that engagement in digital art could potentially enhance cognitive functions related to the frontal lobe, such as executive function, in older adults.

A review of previous studies revealed that while cognitive benefits of visual arts interventions have been reported for older adults with cognitive decline, clear cognitive improvements are less frequently observed in healthy older adults without cognitive impairment (Masika et al., 2020). One possible explanation is that individuals with cognitive decline may exhibit greater cognitive plasticity than do those without cognitive decline (Rosebud and Knopman, 2013), highlighting the challenge of identifying effective activities for cognitively healthy populations (Masika et al., 2020). However, an intervention study by Brown et al. (2021), which targeted healthy older adults without cognitive impairment, reported significant improvements in executive function and cognitive flexibility following a conceptual art intervention, which included elements of visual arts. This finding is partially consistent with the results of the present study. Drawing engages a variety of cognitive functions, including attention, decision-making, motor control, visual information processing, and working memory (Katz et al., 2021). Notably, creative drawing processes activate the executive control network in the prefrontal cortex (Bolwerk et al., 2014; De Pisapia et al., 2016). Associations with similar frontoparietal networks have also been reported (Raimo et al., 2021), suggesting that such creative engagement may induce structural changes in regions such as the medial frontal gyrus, a part of the frontal lobe (Chamberlain et al., 2014). Therefore, sustained engagement in digital art—an inherently creative activity—may contribute to observable improvements in executive functions, particularly those related to frontal lobe activity. However, it is noteworthy that, in this study, the FAB exhibited a trend toward improvement in executive function, while other tests that also measure executive function, such as the TMT and the Stroop task, did not show clear changes. This result may be because of differences in the domain of executive function that each test measures. The FAB was developed as a comprehensive measure of executive function (Dubois et al., 2000). The TMT, on the other hand, focuses primarily on cognitive flexibility, while the Stroop task focuses on specific executive functions such as inhibitory control. Therefore, aspects of executive function that revealed improvements on the FAB may have not matched those measured on the TMT or the Stroop task. In addition, since mental fatigue affects cognitive performance (Van der Linden et al., 2003), the order in which the tests were administered may have played a significant role in the results. Specifically, participants may have felt more mental fatigue during the TMT and the Stroop task, which were administered in the middle-to-late stages of the test, than during the FAB, which was administered at the beginning. This may have affected the results. In the RAVLT, although a significant main effect of time was observed, both the IG and CG showed increased scores, suggesting that the observed improvements were likely due to practice effects. No clear improvements were found in the other cognitive indicators. Masika et al. (2020) contend that key features of effective visual art interventions involve components requiring a high level of cognitive engagement including art analysis/cognitive evaluation and tasks that stimulate creativity during art processing. Although the current program included a variety of tasks designed to stimulate creativity, the components involving art analysis, cognitive evaluation, and reflection were limited to brief write-ups at the end of each session. Ample time for deeper introspection or focused verbalization was not incorporated, resulting in potentially insufficient cognitive engagement to improve functions other than executive function.

No effects of the intervention were observed on psychological functions, as measured by the scores on depression symptoms (GDS-15-J) and life satisfaction (SWLS). Previous studies on visual arts interventions for older adults with diagnosed depression or depressive tendencies have reported improvements in depressive symptoms (Choi and Jeon, 2013; Ciasca et al., 2018; Im and Lee, 2014; Hsu et al., 2017; Kang et al., 2010) and self-esteem (Ching-Teng et al., 2019). These interventions were typically carried out by professional art therapists under therapeutic settings, dedicating considerable time to the verbal interpretation and discussion of artworks. According to Dunphy et al. (2019), the emotional and internal mechanisms of such interventions involve the creation of art, providing a valuable distance for the externalization of internal subjective experiences and enabling visual communication. In addition, the completion of the artwork contributes to the strengthening of agency. The intervention in this study was intended for healthy older adults and was, therefore, more of a learning experience rather than a therapeutic intervention by a professional art therapist. No active approach to the psychological aspects of the participants was adopted by researchers and art demonstrators, as the program content predominantly focused on teaching and exploring digital art techniques.

A study by Kim (2013), that also targeted healthy older adults, revealed certain psychological improvements, such as reductions in negative emotions and anxiety and increases in self-esteem. However, the intervention included significant time spent on group discussions (15–20 min of a 60–75 min session). In contrast, the intervention in this study allotted only approximately 3–5 min at the end of each session to complete a brief reflection sheet and share any impressions. The content of the reflection sheet included determining the participants’ understanding of the day’s lesson, their emotions during the session, and optional, non-mandatory free-text feedback on the session. Based on these observations, the lack of psychological improvements in the present study could be attributed to several factors: the relatively good mental health of participants prior to the intervention, limited involvement by intervenors, and time allocated for externalizing and verbally processing participants' internal subjective experiences through art. The time allocated for deep introspection or discussion among participants was insufficient.

No statistically significant relationship was found between changes in drawing skills resulting from the digital visual art intervention and changes in cognitive or psychological functions. Previous research has revealed that training in visual arts can lead to changes in neural processing within brain regions that mediate the integration of perception and action (Schlegel et al., 2015). In addition, it has been suggested that drawing expertise may not stem from improved perceptual abilities but from enhanced capacity to transform perceived information into creative actions (Perdreau and Cavanagh, 2011). From this perspective, while artistic drawing itself may serve as a stimulus contributing to cognitive function, the process of acquiring drawing expertise emphasizes integrating perceived information with motor control and coordination between eye and hand movements—functions supported by complex brain networks. Therefore, improvements in drawing expertise may be more closely reflected in changes in brain network connectivity than in improvements in specific subdomains of cognitive function as measured in the present study. Furthermore, the drawing ability assessment employed in this study was originally developed as a general measure of traditional drawing skills (Chamberlain et al., 2014). However, acquiring digital visual art skills involves not only basic artistic abilities but also the effective use of digital software and tools. The skills participants developed through the program included effective use of pen functions, layer management, selection tools, and diverse coloring techniques—elements beyond conventional drawing activities. Thus, the learning outcomes of the program may not have been fully captured by a drawing skill test focused solely on traditional drawing ability. Regarding psychological functions, as noted by Dunphy et al. (2019), the internal and subjective world of participants plays a critical role. Therefore, participants’ subjective sense of achievement—such as feeling that they had “improved”—may be more strongly associated with psychological effects than with objective evaluations of drawing ability. In light of these considerations, future research should revisit the evaluation indicators used to assess the relationship between drawing skill and cognitive/psychological functions. Refining both the task design and evaluation methods to better reflect the specific learning content of the program will be an important challenge.

This study has several limitations. First, its results only exhibited significant trends rather than a clear significant difference; therefore, they should be interpreted cautiously. The results of this study demonstrated trends toward improvement rather than statistically significant differences. Several factors may have contributed to this outcome, including limitations in sample size, insufficient control of confounding variables such as participants’ social and leisure activities, potential shortcomings in the newly developed intervention program, and possible mismatches between the selected outcome measures and the actual effects of the intervention. As a pioneering attempt, this study is positioned as a pilot investigation, and the findings provide valuable insights for future research. Moving forward, it will be essential to address these limitations by expanding the sample size, refining the research design. Second, the study did not incorporate measures related to social interaction. Masika et al. (2020), Masika et al. (2022) contended that visual art exerts its effects on cognitive and psychological functioning through the three mechanisms of physiological, cognitive, and social stimulations. In the present study, each group consisted of fixed members, and the long-term nature of the program appeared to foster the formation of small-scale communities among participants. Social interaction has been shown to positively influence both cognitive function (Kelly et al., 2017) and psychological wellbeing (Nyqvist et al., 2013) among older adults. Future studies should include indicators of social interaction and analyze their associations with cognitive and psychological outcomes to allow for a more comprehensive and ecologically valid understanding of the effects of digital art learning. Third, while this study employed quantitative methods to analyze the data, quantitative analysis alone could not capture the subjective and individualized experiences of participants throughout the digital art learning process. Previous research has utilized qualitative methods to explore participants’ inner experiences in greater depth (Cantu and Fleuriet, 2017; MacLeod et al., 2016; Rose and Lonsdale, 2016; Stickley et al., 2016). In addition, some studies have adopted mixed-methods approaches combining both quantitative and qualitative data (Camic et al., 2014; Phinney et al., 2014). These studies have provided rich insights into participants’ emotional states during the creative process, their renewed appreciation of the world and its beauty (Cantu and Fleuriet, 2017), personal growth (e.g., acquiring new abilities through the creation of art), and a sense of meaning and fulfillment (e.g., personal expression, perceived significance, and satisfaction) (MacLeod et al., 2016)—aspects that go beyond what can be measured through quantitative indicators alone. Therefore, future research should incorporate qualitative approaches in addition to quantitative methods to further elucidate the multifaceted effects of digital art learning on older adults. Moreover, the program content and instructional methods should be continuously updated to optimize its effectiveness in maintaining and enhancing cognitive and psychological functioning. Therefore, future studies should address the identified limitations and advance the development of more refined and adaptable digital art programs.

This study details one of the first attempts to examine the effects of digital visual art learning on cognitive and psychological functions in healthy older adults. Its results suggest that digital visual art learning tends to improve frontal lobe functions, mainly executive functions. The findings of this study highlight the potential utility of digital visual arts learning as an innovative, non-pharmacological approach to support cognitive function in older adults and may promote healthy longevity in the community. Future studies should develop effective and adaptive digital art learning programs for older adults by increasing the sample size, while examining indices of social interaction and adopting a more individualized approach using qualitative methods as well.