NeuroScience + Art Blog

The relationship between neuroscience and art seems to be very similar to me as medical technology and art, which I did a blog post about a few weeks ago. The topic of neuroscience, however, is especially interesting for me because I am currently in a course called “Philosophy of the MInd” this quarter.  I found it interesting to learn of topics such as consciousness, unconsciousness, and how drugs affect the way neuroscientists and artists have learned about the brain and the way it functions for us humans.

(Image: Japanese-styled art inspired by neuroscience)

Introduced in the first lecture video, Professor Vesna talks of the concept of consciousness, how it was founded, and the things associated with consciousness.  Consciousness is simple the state of being conscious, or I like to think it basically just means being aware that you are alive and functioning. Consciousness was rooted by great scientists, such as Franz Joseph Gall, Pierre Paul Broca, and Santiago Ramón y Cajal.  All men have a similar, but different interpretation of consciousness.  However, all of these great thinkers have an interest in the way consciousness affects us and essentially art.  Santiago Ramon y Cajal is the best example of an artist and scientist combined together in understanding neuroscience because he believes artists are the individuals most interested in the brain and how it works.


(Image: Santiago Ramon y Cajal)

Unconsciousness was the topic addressed in the second lecture video and I found this topic to be the most interesting of them all because I have had many curiosities before being introduced to the idea of unconsciousness or subconsciousness.  Dreams are discussed in parallel with the term unconsciousness because they are what people experience the most while being unconscious, if they have these experiences at all. Freud and Carl Gustav Jung were the two main fathers of the concept of unconsciousness, but many modern day scientists and artists have taken the concept under their wing so it can be the center of their research or artwork. Many artists love the dream aspect of the unconscious part of the mind because it allows our imagination to soar without intentionally thinking our own thoughts.


(Image: "Why Do People Dream")

The concept of conscious and other aspects of the human mind are shown in art through movies.  For instance in the movie, A Dangerous Method by David Cronenberg, starring Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, and Viggo Mortensen, the story describes the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and their opinions on the unconscious aspect of the mind. Personally, I have never seen the film so I am unfamiliar with the film’s actual presentation of the story, but I find it quite interesting for their to be cinemas that use neuroscience as the basis of their plots.


(Image: A Dangerous Method) 

All in all, I feel it can quite apart of the "neuroculture" that is developing in our society, as addressed in the article "Neuroculture" by Giovanni Frazzetto and Suzanne Anker.  Neuroculture is basically the rise of neuroscience knowledge that is emerging in our everyday lives and activities.  Our brain is something that every human being has on this earth and needs for cognition and for a mind.  Art helps to display the importance of the brain and the learnings of the brain in ways that science cannot do on its own.



Works Cited
Anker, Suzanne, and Giovanni Frazzetto. "Neuroculture." Nature Reviews Neuroscience. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2017. <http://www.academia.edu/6200034/Neuroculture>. 
"A Dangerous Method (2011)." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 22 May 2017. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571222/>. 
MailOnline, Victoria Woollaston for. "A Beautiful Mind: Japanese-style Art Inspired by Neuroscience Reveals Grey Matter in Much More Colourful Glory." Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 22 May 2017. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2874373/A-beautiful-mind-Japanese-style-art-inspired-neuroscience-reveals-grey-matter-colourful-glory.html>. 
Nichols, Hannah. "Dreams: Why Do We Dream?" Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 22 May 2017. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284378.php>. 
"Santiago Ramón Y Cajal." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 22 May 2017. <http://www.biography.com/people/santiago-ram%C3%B3n-y-cajal-39848>.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 23, 2017 at 10:15 PM

    I think that you had very interesting thoughts on this topic, and I agree that nanotech + art and biotech + art are similar. You also draw a good connection to your class "philosophy of the mind", which I'll look into since I'm also very interested in how we can affect our mind, and how the mind affect the body - through consciousness. I don't really agree with Santiago Ramon y Cajal about artists being the individuals most interested in the brain and how it works, since also neurologs, psychologists, and even athletes need and have a big interest in the brain. Your conclusion about art expanding the brain and its functioning is very good, and makes me think about the expression "a picture says more than a thousand words." Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 25, 2017 at 12:01 AM

    I liked what you had to say about this topic. I liked that you drew conversations and topics form your other class into your out this week. That reminds me of my psychology class I am taking this quarter. today in fact, we discussed Freud's idea of the superego, ego and Id and the unconscious and conscious thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. rachel garciaMay 25, 2017 at 11:27 AM

    I think you brought up so interesting thoughts about this topic. I also really liked how you connected your philosophy class with this topic.

    ReplyDelete

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