Week 7: Neuroscience & Art

      Being a psychobiology major, I have taken several classes that placed heavy emphasis on neuroscience, yet from this week materials, I have grown a stronger interest in it after learning about “neuroculture.” According to Frazzetto and Anker, neuroculture encompasses the dialogues that neuroscientists make with artists and the public with a focus on how “neuroscience knowledge partakes in our daily lives, social practices, and intellectual discourses” (Frazzetto and Anker). I believe that an example representing neuroculture is the brainbow––a technique to distinguish neighboring neurons in the brain using fluorescent protein markers (Weissman). This is because brainbow not only is a method used by neuroscientists to understand neural pathways in the brain, but the product that brainbow produces is also considered an artwork as shown in the image below of a zebrafish’s neurons being fluorescently labeled.
Brainbow labeling in zebrafish
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3082469/figure/F1/

The use of neural chemicals is another form of neuroculture because of their ability to influence our neural activities, mainly our visual processing of the world. Professor Vesna discussed that cocaine and LSD were two common drugs that when taken will alter one’s visual perception and sensation of the world (Vesna, part 1). These changes contribute to an individual's stimulated imagination and thus can enhance one’s creativity. For example, a study done in 1954 by the psychiatrist Oscar Janiger revealed the transformation in an artist’s drawings over varying time periods after taking 50-microgram dose of LSD. Although LSD is an illegal drug, these pictures below collectively illustrate how changes in our neural activities result in changes in our approach to art.
A series of images of an artist's drawing of the researcher after 2hrs 30min, 2hrs 45min, and 4hrs 25 min of first LSD dose
http://www.openculture.com/2013/10/artist-draws-nine-portraits-on-lsd-during-1950s-research-experiment.html


        Lastly, movies such as “A Dangerous Method” which focuses on the relationship of Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, and Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis, are representative of neuroculture in terms of expressing ideas and concepts of neuroscience to the public via mass media. These movies allow viewers to better understand the role of neuroscience and psychology in shaping/changing one’s thought and behavior (Vesna, part 3).
A Movie Poster of "A Dangerous Method"
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-dangerous-method-2011

References:
 "Artist Draws 9 Portraits While On LSD: Inside The 1950S Experiments To Turn LSD Into A “Creativity Pill”". Open Culture, 2018, http://www.openculture.com/2017/08/artist-draws-a-series-portraits-on-lsd-inside-the-1950s-experiments-to-turn-lsd-into-a-creativity-pill.html. Accessed 20 May 2018.

Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. "Neuroculture". Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol 10, no. 11, 2009, pp. 815-821. Springer Nature, doi:10.1038/nrn2736. Accessed 20 May 2018.

 Scott, A. "‘A Dangerous Method,’ By David Cronenberg - Review". Nytimes.Com, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/movies/a-dangerous-method-by-david-cronenberg-review.html. Accessed 20 May 2018.
  
  Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience-Pt1.Mov". Youtube, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzXjNbKDkYI. Accessed 20 May 2018.  
 Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience Pt3". Youtube, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5EX75xoBJ0. Accessed 20 May 2018.

Weissman, Tamily et al. "Generating And Imaging Multicolor Brainbow Mice". Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, vol 2011, no. 7, 2011, pp. pdb.top114-pdb.top114. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, doi:10.1101/pdb.top114. Accessed 20 May 2018.

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 23, 2018 at 11:52 PM

    It's very interesting how you mention the idea of "neuroculture". Science slowly integrates itself in society without you really knowing it until you carefully examine it. Artists continue to push the limits and break the boundaries between science and art. Neuroscience is a growing field and artists are there to take advantage of that. You provided good examples of how neuroscience is in art, in the movies, and even in the daily lives of drug addicts.

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