WEEK 7: NEUROSCIENCE AND ART

The intersection of art and neuroscience is a very interesting area. Historically, art was needed to study neuroscience. In the 19th century, microscopy was not very advances, which meant that studying neurons was very difficult. Thus, scientists turned to artists to provide this information so that they could study neurons in more detail. Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the father of modern neuroscience, who was both an artist and a scientist, drew very detailed drawings of neurons and helped this field grow.

This was followed by the use of neuroscience to create art. One cool example mentioned in the lecture was Brainbow. Brainbow involved using fluorescent proteins of different colors to light up neurons in order to be able to distinguish individual neurons.
Also now, neuroscience is being used to study art. This falls under the field of neuroaesthetics , which specifically explores how and why people appreciate art, music and the very concept of beauty. Semir Zeki and Vilayanur Ramachandran are pioneers of this field and have identified some key properties of artwork, which makes observers like it. One such example would be the “peak-shift principle”, which states that if an observer is attracted to a certain shape or color then by exaggerating that shape or color will amplify the effect on the observer. Neuroaesthetics has faced criticisms for being ineffective in explaining art so far, but it is still considered a field with great potential. One popular criticism is that creativity cannot be captured by neuroscience, however an argument can be made that artists employ certain “algorithms” to generate ideas which can be tracked by neuroscience.


Neuroscience and art have and continue to interact on many different levels. This a field of great potential, and will generate revelations in the future.

REFERENCES: 

  • Vesna, Victoria. Lecture. DESMA 9. Web. 21 May 2017.
  • Chatterjee, Anjan. "Neuroaesthetics." The Scientist. N.p., 1 May 2014. Web. 21 May 2017. <http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39802/title/Neuroaesthetics/>.
  • Hirstein, William. "Neuroaesthetics: Responding to the Critics." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 May 2017. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mindmelding/201212/neuroaesthetics-responding-the-critics>.
  • Landau, Elizabeth. "What the brain draws from: Art and neuroscience." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 May 2017. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/15/health/art-brain-mind/>.
  • "When Arts meet Neuroscience..." PLOS Neuroscience Community. N.p., 17 Oct. 2016. Web. 21 May 2017. <http://blogs.plos.org/neuro/2016/10/16/when-arts-meet-neuroscience-by-naureen-ghani/>.

Comments

  1. Kayla EberMay 23, 2017 at 4:09 PM

    I liked how your blogpost went over some of the key elements of the lecture, but also introduced me to the area of neuroaesthetics. I have never heard of this and will definitely be looking into it in the future, thank you for telling me about it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. William ConnerMay 25, 2017 at 2:33 PM

      I thought the brainbow is very intriguing because it shows exactly how intertwined art and neuroscience are. It goes to show that humans will rely on artistic techniques in the future in order to gather new data they were never able to attain. Great post.

      Delete

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