Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

The brain is always the most interesting part of the human body. It connects people to the world and enables them to feel, to think and to create. Neuroscience is a relatively new area that people try to learn more about how the brain works. But scientists are not the only one who want to figure out this mystery. For centuries, artists have obsessed with the connection between the human mind and body. The combination of these two fields enables people to understand their minds and individualities more.
The perfect example of this relationship between neuroscience and art is a technique, first developed by a team led by professors at Harvard University, Brainbow. By using fluorescent proteins with different ratios of red, green and blue, scientists can distinguish individual neurons from the other neurons next to them, creating a rainbow-like image. Brainbow not only is a technique that inspires lots of fascinating artworks but also is a major contribution to the study of the neuron connections in the human brain.

image of neurons when using Brainbow

Brainbow, Work No.11047, Meline S (2011)

Another topic that I found interesting is the dream. People can see impossibles in their dreams - things that are often unbelievable in the reality. Throughout the recorded history, scientists and artists have spent lots of time on this mysterious human brain activity, trying to interpret and understand it. Though it is often considered unreliable in the psychology field today, the theory of Sigmund Freud is the most widely spread technique to interpret dreams. He separated human mind into conscious, preconscious and unconscious. Dreams, according to Freud's theory, is driven by people's wishes in their unconscious minds. In my point of view, though can not completely control it, people are able to free their creativities in their dreams. The dream is exactly a combination of art and neuroscience.

Human brain itself is a piece of a masterpiece by nature. Art and neuroscience are just two different ways to interpret the activities of the human brain. With them, artists and scientists can dive more into the area of the brain and cognitive science, but of course, there is still a long way to go.



Sources:

"Brainbow 101 : IGTRCN." IGTRCN. Web. 15 May 2016. <http://igtrcn.org/brainbow-101/>.

Brainbow. Web. 15 May 2016. <http://www.meline-art.com/brainbow>.

"Id, Ego and Superego." Id Ego Superego. Web. 15 May 2016. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html>.

 "Brain Cells Colored To Create 'Brainbow'" LiveScience. TechMedia Network. Web. 15 May 2016. <http://www.livescience.com/1977-brain-cells-colored-create-brainbow.html>.

Freud, Sigmund. The interpretation of dreams. Read Books Ltd, 2013.

 "The Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud (1900)." Web. 15 May 2016. <http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Freud/Dreams/dreams.pdf>.

 "Sigmund Freud on Dreams: Releasing Repressed Impulses." Amy Cope Dream into Life. 2014. Web. 15 May 2016. <http://amycope.com/sigmund-freud-dream-theories/>.