Neuroscience and Art

Out of all the topics covered so far throughout this course, neuroscience seems to have the strongest connection to art. Neuroscience, meaning all things involving the brain, is the the area of science that is responsible for explaining why living things do the thing they do. Therefore, it explains how and why people create art and think artistically. As talked about in Lecture Video Pt. 1, consciousness is the sense of one’s personal or collective identity. Having consciousness enables people to make decisions, have opinions, and to be aware of themselves and others around them. Having consciousness makes a person themself, while also making every person unique. That being said, consciousness holds the capability in creating art and thinking philosophically. Your brain is able to form your mind, and the mind is where creativity is invented. Even though the brain can be seen and studied scientifically, it is responsible for a human’s ability to create.

Another idea that connects art and neuroscience comes from the fact that Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung’s opposing scientific theories about the brain stems from their different religious beliefs. In this case, these two scientists created their theories on consciousness due to their knowledge and understand of their religion. Art and thought drove these two people to make their own scientific discoveries. I think this is a very interesting way in which art drives science and scientific development. Neuroscience can not only be driven by art, but it also processes art. The study by Mark Cohen in which goggles are created in order to see the world in which our eyes naturally do, without help from the brain, combines art and science in examining how

the brain is able to adapt to the different conditions in which a human sees the world. Studies like these are great examples of how art and science are both needed and utilized in order to discover more in the field of neuroscience and to keep discovering more about ourselves.

Sources

DeCharms, Christopher, director. TED. TED, www.ted.com/talks/christopher_decharms_scans_the_brain_in_real_time?language=en.

MIND AND NATURE by Gregory Bateson, www.oikos.org/mind&nature.htm.

Online, UC, director. YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzXjNbKDkYI.

Online, UC, director. YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFv4owX3MZo.

Vesna, Victoria, director. YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 12 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDq8uTROeXU.