Week 4: Neuroscience + Art

            While we generally think of the brain’s sole function as controlling our body and maintaining our consciousness, it can also be manipulated to create art through imaging the brain, tricking the brain with illusions, and manipulating the chemicals inside the brain. In addition to the use of Brainbow to randomly distinguish and map individual neurons, Carbocyanine dye labeling can be used to label axon tracts in the brain, creating beautiful, scientifically useful images.

Brainbow (B) and Carbocyanine dye labeling (D,E) of a mouse brain

Source: Wiring the Brain: The Biology of Neuronal Guidance.

            Some artists exploit their knowledge of neuroscience to create optical illusions such as Suzanne Anker’s fMRI Butterfly, which trick the brain into perceiving images differently than they actually are. One interesting application of these illusions is in the diagnosis of Schizophrenia. Schizophrenics, as well as some brain injury sufferers, have facial recognition defects that prevent them from falling for the Hollow Face optical illusion. A healthy brain sees the concave inside of a face mask, but interprets it to be convex because the brain’s idea of what it expects overpowers the actual visual information.

 Hollow Face Optical Illusion

If your brain interprets the hollow part of the mask as a convex face, you don't have schizophrenia

Source: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbKw0_v2clo>

Al Seckel, a cognitive neuroscientist, explores the perceptual illusions that fool our brains

Source: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzOQLDwUAC8>

            A significantly more controversial method of creating art is through altering the brain with hallucinogenic substances such as LSD and psilocybin. The compounds act on the brain’s neurotransmitters, creating art in the subject’s mind when they close their eyes, as well as influencing artistic expression. The use of drugs to create an altered mental state has famously lead to many notable contributions including Freud’s invention of psychoanalysis and Crick’s discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

Other artists famously influenced by the effects of LSD include Aldous Huxley, Jim Morrison and Steve Jobs. Some scholars even believe that these hallucinations were the basis for certain events in religious scripture.

A portrait artist takes LSD and draws a man's portrait multiple times throughout his "trip"

Source: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Sb8jCJUTw>

            One piece I really enjoyed was Bryan Lewis Saunders’ series of self-portraits, each while on different drug. It was interesting to see how different mental states would produce completely different images.

Bryan Lewis Saunders' Self Portraits on psilocybin, cocaine and salvia. (Left to right)

Source: <http://bryanlewissaunders.org/drugs/>

            While much controversy surrounds the use of life as an expressive medium, I believe that no harm comes to society as long as artists are aware of the consequences these procedures have on their own bodies, perform them safely and don't harm other organisms unnecessarily. Regarding the use of controlled substances, a significantly more complex issue is presented. Those under the influence may have lapses in judgment (driving while intoxicated) that put others in danger or experience brain damage as a result of improper use, creating a burden on the health care system. Consequentially, a pragmatic ethical approach must be applied to such situations.

Works Cited

Chedotal, A., and L. J. Richards. "Wiring the Brain: The Biology of Neuronal Guidance." Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology 2.6 (2010): A001917. Web.

Dima, D., Jp Roiser, De Dietrich, C. Bonnemann, H. Lanfermann, Hm Emrich, and W. Dillo. "Understanding Why Patients with Schizophrenia Do Not Perceive the Hollow Mask Illusion Using Dynamic Causal Modelling." NeuroImage 47 (2009): S135. Web.

"DRUGS." Bryan Lewis Saunders. 2008. Web. 19 July 2014. <http://bryanlewissaunders.org/drugs/>.

Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. "Neuroculture." Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10.11 (2009): 815-21. Web.

Ilani, Ofri. "Hebrew University Researcher: Moses Was Tripping at Mount Sinai." Israel News. Haaretz, 4 Mar. 2008. Web. 19 July 2014. <http://www.haaretz.com/news/hebrew-university-researcher-moses-was-tripping-at-mount-sinai-1.240589>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience Pt3." YouTube. UC Online Program, 16 May 2012. Web. 17 July 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5EX75xoBJ0>.

Yglesias, Matthew. "Steve Jobs on LSD: "A Positive Life-changing Experience for Me."" Slate Magazine, 11 June 2012. Web. 19 July 2014. <http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/06/11/steve_jobs_on_lsd_a_positive_life_changing_experience_for_me_.html>.