MINERVA Study Measures Emotional Impact of Museum Visits in Verona

The MINERVA project (Museo Innovazione Neuroscienze Impatto Emotivo al Valore dell’Arte), launched in 2024 at Palazzo Maffei in Verona, has published results in Frontiers Psychology showing significant psychological benefits from structured museum visits. Coordinated by Professor Michela Nosè, Professor Corrado Barbui, and Vanessa Carlon, the study involved 103 participants attending three guided thematic sessions one week apart. Using internationally validated questionnaires, researchers found that psychological distress dropped from 67% to 56%, moderate-severe anxiety fell from 13.6% to 6.8%, and moderate-severe depression decreased from 8.8% to 4.8%. Psychological well-being scores rose from 13.88 to 15.88, with the percentage reporting high well-being increasing from 34% to 50%. The study is the first Italian research on this topic published in a scientific journal and was cited as a model of good practice in the European Commission document 'Culture and Health: Time to Act'. Participant satisfaction ranged from 89% to 98%. The project was conducted in collaboration with the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Mental Health at the University of Verona.