Module 7: Neuroscience + Art

 Module 7: Neuroscience + Art

Neuroscience and its related technologies have been intertwined with art for decades. Long enough for terms to be invented to define the interaction between the two. For example, the term “neuroculture” describes how “neuroscience knowledge partakes in our daily lives, social practices and intellectual discourses,” (Frazzetto and Anker). However, when the focus is on how neuroscience knowledge partakes in visual art, the interaction is categorized under “neuroaesthetics,” (Frazzetto and Anker). 

An example of neuroaesthetics is how fMRI tools made the image of the human brain iconic. Helen Chadwick, an English artist born in 1951, created Self-Portrait in 1991, which is shown below. At the time, this artwork was described as “fascinating and repulsive,” (National Galleries). I find this interesting because I am a relatively squeamish person and do not find the image repulsive. One thing this could point to is the fact that this technology was newer in 1991, so people were less exposed to this imagery and it had more of an unsettling effect. 

(National Galleries)

Artists can also create art to depict neurological processes. Mare Incognito by Daniela de Paulis explores “the moment between wakefulness and sleep,” (Samuels and Tormes).

(Samuels and Tormes)

Artists are also beginning to look to neuroscience to describe our behavior and appearance through genetics. The Allan Brain Atlas is a neuroscientific tool used to map genes to behaviors (Jones). 

There are some who question our desire to  scientifically define everything about human existence. C-G-Jung asked “Is it not touching to see the offscourings of man’s psyche gathered together in compendia a foot thick?” I thought this was a very intriguing question, because the goal of neuroscience is to have all the information stored in a large book. Does this diminish the creativity in art? 

Motives behind art can also be studied through neuroscience. The following graphic depicts the biological motivation behind the arts, which is a scientific process.

(Zaidel)


Works Cited

Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. “Neuroculture.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 10, no. 11, Nov. 2009, pp. 815–21, doi:10.1038/nrn2736.

Jones, Allan R., et al. “The Allen Brain Atlas: 5 Years and Beyond.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 10, no. 11, Oct. 2009, pp. 821–28, doi:10.1038/nrn2722.

Jung, C. G. “The Spiritual Problem Of Modern Man By C.G. Jung.” The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man, 2020, https://carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2020/05/13/modern/.

National Galleries. “Self-Portrait by Helen Chadwick.” National Galleries of Scotland, 2016, https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/42351.

Samuels, Fionna M. D., and Liz Tormes. “See the Top Entries in the Art of Neuroscience Competition.” Scientific American, 26 Aug. 2022, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-the-top-entries-in-the-art-of-neuroscience-competition1/.

Zaidel, Dahlia W. “Art and Brain: Insights from Neuropsychology, Biology and Evolution.” Journal of Anatomy, vol. 216, no. 2, Jan. 2010, pp. 177–83, doi:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2009.01099.x.

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