Week 7 | Neuroscience + Art | Blog Assignment

Art has been adapted into science and technology in a multitude of ways, and has especially aided dozens of new findings and advancements in the field of neuroscience. As discussed in the lecture, one way that art and neuroscience have overlapped is with the creation of Brainbow, which allows for hundreds of different neurons to be distinguished from one another by the injection of fluorescent proteins (Vesna, Lecture 1, 12:06). This development allows scientists to understand brain activity better to see which neurons are working when, as well as how neurons connect to one another (Brainbows, 2014).

Brainbow allows scientists to track neurons’ paths by their distinct color. (Dunn, 2016).
Another technique that has been used to explore the brain through the combination of art and neuroscience was the use of psychedelic drugs. Neuroscientists are using psychedelic drugs and their hallucinogenic effects as a way to better understand the brain’s perceptions of situations different from ordinary consciousness and altered reality. The brain has been found to offer a best guess at the situations it is placed in, so under psychedelic conditions “the brain is actively … creating hypotheses that are the best explanation for the sensory samples that it’s receiving” (The Neuroscience of Psychedelics, 2021). Scientists have been using these drugs to microdose and test the effects, which have been found by many to make users more creative by “‘promoting cognitive flexibility, crucial to creative thinking’” (Cortés, 2018). Psychedelics alter network connectivity as well as neuron pathways in the brain, allowing for new perceptions and communication than when consciousness.

LSD's affect on the brain, showing the entirety of the
organ becoming way more active. 
(Griffiths, 2016)

On top of using art to examine and understand new neuroscience findings, I find it extremely interesting how big of an impact that art itself has on the brain. Art impacts the brain by affecting “brain wave patterns, emotions, and the nervous system” (How The Brain is Affected, 2020). Art can be used as a rehabilitation technique by stimulating new neural pathways and has been found to have drastic success as therapy.

Areas of the brain that are triggered at A. visual art production 
and B. cognitive art evaluation. 
(Bolwerk et al., 2014)

Works Cited 

Bolwerk, A., Mack-Andrick, J., Lang, F., Dörfler, A., and Maihöfner, C. (2014). How Art Changes Your Brain: Differential Effects of Visual Art Production and Cognitive Art Evaluation of Functional Brain Connectivity. Plos One. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0101035


Brainbows: Mixing Colors to Map the Brain. (2014). Brainfacts. https://www.brainfacts.org/in-the-lab/tools-and-techniques/2014/brainbows-mixing-colors-to-map-the-brain


Cortés, M. 2018. Psychedelics May Offer Artists a Creative Boost. Artsy. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-psychedelics-offer-artists-creative-boost


Dunn, G. 2016. “Brainbow Hippocampus.” Medium. https://medium.com/brain-byte-blog/brainbow-

hippocampus-c8996ff8063f


Griffiths, J. 2016. “This is your brain on LSD, literally.” CNN Health. https://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/12/health/lsd-brain-imaging/index.html


How The Brain Is Affected By Art. 2020. American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. https://acrm.org/rehabilitation-medicine/how-the-brain-is-affected-by-art/


The Neuroscience of Psychedelics: This Is Your Brain On Drugs (Literally). 2021. Inverse. https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/what-happens-in-your-brain-when-you-hallucinate


Vesna, V. 2022. Lecture 1: Consciousness/Memory. Desma 9: Art, Science and Technology. Bruinlearn.


Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 11, 2022 at 10:38 AM

    I really enjoyed your post! It helped me gain a deeper understanding of some of the topics we learned this week. It is so interesting to me that psychedelics can alter network connectivity and neuron pathways in the brain. Our brains are such fascinating organs and I love that we are constantly learning more about it. I also liked that you mentioned how art can positively affect the brain and be used as a rehabilitation technique. I wonder how our brains would respond to us looking at a work of art vs. how it would respond to us actually creating a work of art. I feel like seeing and creating art would stimulate different areas of the brain and lead to differential rehabilitative success, but was wondering if you had read about this in your research?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ariana MaganaMay 15, 2022 at 11:35 PM

    Hello, thank you for sharing this wonderful insight. Overall, you had amazing and interesting topics to talk about that I had built up curiosity for too. One example is the use of psychedelic drugs. Combing the topics of art and neuroscience, this is a field where you can explore this, but I had no idea it was possible but clearly is. This was mind opening on the idea that projects, concept and fields like this all encompass topics we talk about in class. The brain itself is one of the most interesting organs to work with and finding any neuroscience behind it and relating it to art can bring new knowledge to our world that can really only benefits us. Studying art and how it can affect it in various ways could be a great to explore as we know it focuses on wave patterns, emotions and nervous system like you stated.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kathryne_RomoDESMA9July 7, 2023 at 4:56 AM

    I think your post was very insightful and very well worded. I think that it is interesting that you began with explanation of Brainbow and then progressed to explaining psychedelic drugs and their connection to the brain. I would not have thought to mention arts impact on the brain and I think the fact that you did is very impressive.

    ReplyDelete

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