Assessment
What Awe Does to the Brain
Moments of wonder — big and small — can boost your mood, ease stress and help you feel more connected to others
Schon/Getty Images
When’s the last time you experienced awe? Maybe you gazed up at the night sky during a meteor shower or marveled as your grandchild took their first steps. These are magical moments. Turns out you can learn to cultivate awe during ordinary experiences, like watching a bee collect pollen. And doing so may benefit your brain in powerful ways.
Awe has a way of taking us out of our own heads. We forget about our doubts and fears for a moment and feel connected to something larger than ourselves.
“Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world,” says University of California, Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner in his book, “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.” Vast can mean physically huge, like the Grand Canyon, but it can also be something small that’s unexpected or mysterious, like the individual brushstrokes in a painting.
More Ways to Benefit
- Related Benefit 1
- Related Benefit 2
- Related Benefit 3
- Related Benefit 4
- Related Benefit 5
The achievements or abilities of another person can inspire awe, says Virginia Sturm, a neurology professor at the University of California, San Francisco. So can being in nature, having a religious or spiritual experience, or responding to “art or collective actions like marches or sporting events,” she explains.
Awe is a powerful shift in perspective that can activate areas of the brain associated with wonder, creativity and exploration while quieting brain regions responsible for self-criticism, anxiety and depression, Keltner explains in his book. That can add up to powerful mental health benefits.
In a review article published in Nature Reviews Psychology in 2024, researchers concluded that awe — when experienced regularly — acts as a buffer against daily stress, fosters a positive mindset, helps people find a sense of purpose and “enhances life satisfaction and well-being.” Another randomized controlled trial Keltner co-authored, which involved 68 adults who had long COVID with a mean age of 54, found that everyday awe can also help ease depression. The findings were published in Scientific Reports in 2025.
Seeing the big picture
Happily, awe is something you can cultivate, much like gratitude. Keltner’s research shows that by “finding the extraordinary in the ordinary,” people can experience awe an average of “two to three times a week,” he writes.
“I think of it as a practice that gets easier if you put a little effort into it,” Sturm says. “You can feel awe in your everyday life by shifting your mindset and looking for details that are right in front of your eyes, but you might otherwise miss, like smells and sounds and textures.” You might feel awe by watching a skilled sushi chef prepare your lunch, for example, or by studying the network of veins in a leaf.
In a study by Sturm and Keltner, 60 older adults, ages 60 to 90, took weekly 15-minute walks outdoors for eight weeks. About half were given instructions to look for moments of awe, including exploring environments where sights and sounds were unexpected or unfamiliar. Participants in the awe group reported experiencing greater awe than the control group and said they felt more socially connected and less stressed. The results were published in Emotion in 2022. Think of everyday awe as “little drops in a bucket,” Sturm says. “Maybe each moment isn”t life-changing, but over time they accumulate and can have long-lasting effects on the brain and the body.”
AARP Membership
Join AARP for only $15 per year with automatic renewal. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of benefits, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP The Magazine.
Benefits Recommended For You
Want to read more? Create a FREE account on aarp.org.
A healthy lifestyle helps protect the brain. Make brain health a habit and register on aarp.org to access Staying Sharp.
Not Registered ? Create Account
More From Staying Sharp
Cultivate Awe in Your Daily Life
Seek out new experiences that fill you with wonder
Nature's Patterns at Sunrise and Sunset
Find calm by using techniques to observe the sun at dawn and dusk
Nature Could Improve Your Mood
Learn how to maximize the benefits of spending time outside