Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

Week 7: Neuroscience+ Art

Neuroscience and art are deeply intertwined as art sometimes acts as a powerful medium through which we can communicate our emotions. A long lasting questions pertains to how we dream and, “how it tabs into our conscious mind.” (Vesna) In fact it can be argued that dreaming “represents art's origins,” (Nahum) and if we didn’t have individuals with such creativity and inspiration then art wouldn’t exist in the first place.

Throughout history we can see the evolution in the relationship between art and neuroscience. In the beginning, when people were able to gain access and look inside the cranial cavity, many pieces of art were inspired as people attempted to express the “mysteries of our most vital organ.” (Leman) One of the people who did this was Santiago Ramon Y Cajal who drew what he was able to see under the microscope including the brain and its nervous system illustrating the widespread need to communicate our discoveries through a type of visual space. (NYU) As technology has evolved, the use of artificial intelligence to create pieces such as the “Ultimate Emoji '' has emerged. The structure which was created by using data of people’s emotions pertaining to the Museum of Barcelona and then printed to encapsulate these emotions demonstrates how we can use “characters to communicate human emotion.” (Leman)


Interestingly, the relationship between neuroscience and art goes both ways as it has been proven that art plays a pivotal role in improving brain function. Studies reveal that when people were shown an art piece that they found beautiful, “blood flow increased by as much as 10% to the reign of the brain associated with pleasure.” (ACRM) In other words, the act of simply gazing at a piece of enjoyable art can have a profound impact on the human brain and yield potential benefits when it comes to the human nervous system.



References

Acrm. “How the Brain Is Affected by Art - Rehabilitation Medicine.” ACRM, 27 Aug. 2020, acrm.org/rehabilitation-medicine/how-the-brain-is-affected-by-art/.

Nahum, Chloe. “The Art of Dreams: Creativity through the Unconscious.” Art UK, artuk.org/discover/stories/the-art-of-dreams-creativity-through-the-unconscious. Accessed 17 May 2024.

Leman, Jennifer, and Liz Tormes. “The Brain in Images: Top Entries in the Art of Neuroscience.” Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024, www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-in-images-top-entries-in-the-art-of-neuroscience1/.

New York University. “The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramón y Cajal - Grey Art Museum.” Grey Art Museum, greyartmuseum.nyu.edu/exhibition/beautiful-brainthe-drawings-santiago-ramon-y-cajal/. Accessed 18 May 2024. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience and Art part 2." AMay 17, 2024. UCLA Lecture.


Images

Smith, Roberta. A Deep Dive Into the Brain, Hand-Drawn by the Father of Neuroscience. 18 Jan. 2018. The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/arts/design/brain-neuroscience-santiago-ramon-y-cajal-grey-gallery.html. Accessed 17 May 2024.

ULTIMATE EMOJI (Mobile World Congress 2019) . 14 Feb. 2019. Albert Barqué-Duran , https://albertbarque.com/portfolio/ultimate-emoji-mobile-world-congress-2019/. Accessed 17 May 2024

.Mindshift. How arts education builds better brains and better lives. 2 May 2023. KQED, https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61372/how-arts-education-builds-better-brains-and-better-lives. Accessed 17 May 2024.

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