Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

The Brain....most powerful and interesting organ of the human body. It controls and maintains the body, as well as conscious and unconscious thoughts. However, the cranium cavity is like the epicenter or capital of a city, in every city there are roads and highways that lead to other areas and help communicate to those other areas. These highways and roads are neurons. In the nervous system, neurons are in charge of communicating between cells, through chemicals and electrical triggers.

Where is the connection between the brain, or neuroscience, and art? Neuro-aestheitics, a new scientific study, which is the study of art by neuroscientists. This term was coined by Samir Zeki. This creates a "neurobiological definition of art." Both V.S. Ramachandran and Semir Zeki created this idea of connecting neuroscience and art.

Works of art are produced with specificities- tools, materials, and techniques. For instance, Annibale Carracci etched the painting below, however he worked this piece with more of a style of an engraver.

Another example of connecting neuroscience and art, is Dr. Gregg Dunn, he invented a new technique to change the way in which the viewer experiences a painting. By Microetchings, which are handmade lithographs that manipulate light on a microscopic scale to control the reflectivity of metallic surfaces in precise ways. 

Work Cited:

Drake, John M. "Ecology, Cognition and Landscape: Linking Natural and Social Systems . Landscape Series, Volume 11. By Almo Farina . Dordrecht (The Netherlands) and New York: Springer. $129.00. Xi + 169 P.; Ill.; Index. ISBN: 978-90-481-3137-2 (hc); 978-90-481-3138-9 (eb). 2010." The Quarterly Review of Biology 87.1 (2012): 55-56. Web.

"Greg Dunn Design | Visual Art | Neuroscience Art | Gold Leaf Painting." Greg Dunn Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://www.gregadunn.com/>.

"How to Build a Bigger Brain." How to Build a Bigger Brain. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/how-to-build-a-bigger-brain-91273>.

"Neuroscience." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience>.

N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fnewsroom.ucla.edu%2Fstories%2Flopsang-rapgay-192875>.

"Swann’s Hypothesis." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Nov. 2007. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/books/review/Max-t.html?_r=0>.

"The Third Culture - Chapter 14." The Third Culture - Chapter 14. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2015. <http://edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/v-Ch.14.html>.