Art + Neuroscience

The human mind and its processes have always intrigued the scientific community and beyond. Our consciousness is something very real and something that we each relate to every day. Even if we do not realize it, by contemplating ideas and discussing dreams (brain processes) with others, we are trying to make sense of our brain! For me, it is easy to understand how art and the neuroscience can meld because both topics are relatively abstract. The famous Sigmund Freud, was interested in understanding the human mind, however, his ideas were far beyond his time. Because technology that maps brains and chemical reactions int he brain was not available during Freud's time, he had to be somewhat creative with his brain theories. For example, to understand the reason behind sexual development and its relation to the brain. Today, Freud's theories are considered little more than fairy tales. In this sense, it took creativity and a sense of imagination from Freud to try and understand the mind and what it accomplished without actually seeing any physical evidence of chemical reactions in the brain.

Neurologist Ramachandra talks about the different injury to brains and how they affect one's perception. For example, damaging the front of your brain will leave you unable to recognize faces, even your own. His work not only shows the degree of importance of a healthy brain, it also demonstrates that the brain is what controls the most basic of human processes, image processing. The ability to interpret what you see is all in the brain! This idea is further explored by Bateson who shares an anecdote about a class he taught on biology. In his class, he challenged art students to come up with ways to convince him that a crab (a dead one) was once a living organism. To this challenge, his students answered in the best terms they could, using qualities usually tied to art to describe the crab. They noted the symmetry of its arm, it's organic shape, and proportions. To Bateson's surprise, their description of the crab was rhythmic, like music, like art. Bateson's anecdote ties directly into Ramachandra's notion that the brain is the only part of the human body capable of interpretation and recognition. IN this sense, it is impossible to see how art and neuroscience are not connected. Art is a direct result of the human mind. Art is the brain's attempt at understanding its surroundings. Art can come from no other place than the human consciousness.

Sources:

Bateson, G. "Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity." N.p., n.d. Web. Nov. 2013. <http://www.oikos.org/mind&nature.htm>.

Noe, Alva. "Art and the Limits of Neuroscience." New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/art-and-the-limits-of-neuroscience/?_r=0>.

Ramachandran. "On Your Mind." TEDTalks. N.d. Television.

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience + Art Lecture PART I." DESMA 9. UCLA.


Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience + Art Lecture PART II." DESMA 9. UCLA.

Image Sources:

http://images.sciencedaily.com/2012/07/120705172044-large.jpg

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/08/01/istock_000011321340xsmall_custom-479ce8b2e39774bdcf54d93347aa0ed877fc03bc-s6-c30.jpg

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