Week 7: NeuroSci & Art

Before this week's unit, I did not really see the connection between neuroscience and art. Being a psychobiology major, I have learned about how complex and intricate the brain is. Furthermore, Dr. Vesna mentions in her lecture about how much we actually don't know about the brain, although there have been many studies of it already (Vesna). Perhaps this is why many times, artists will try to portray this "mysterious" part of the body in many different art forms because it opens avenues for creativity (Badhwar & Jakobson). In many cases, pictures or paintings of the brain and how it works are actually included in many biology and life science lectures and textbooks. The following picture is an example of an image that a student would most likely encounter while studying neuroscience. 

(An example of how neuroscience and art connect in the classroom setting)

Another avenue that neuroscience and art are connected that I was able to realize through Dr. Vesna's lecture was in the art of film. Dr. Vesna mentions David Cronenberg, who she describes as a movie director that incorporates psychology and thriller (Vesna). Similarly, this reminded me of a movie I watched called "Split". M. Night Shyamalan, the director, creates a story of an individual with multiple personalities disorder, which is commonly studied throughout neuroscience. Although the director is criticized for not portraying the disease correctly, we can see how film and neuroscience are incorporated together (Nedelman). 

(The theatrical release poster for the movie "Split")

Finally, another way neuroscience and art can be seen united is through marketing techniques, specifically the logos for many companies. Because of how the brain works, the way logos are designed are very important for consumer attention (ThinkResults Marketing). Specifically, the example of a "revamped" Gap logo is an example of this connection. As a result of how the mind perceives certain details and what it prefers to see, the new Gap logo was actually criticized for being worse than the original (Groeger). 

(The comparison to the original [on the left] to the "revamped" Gap logo [on the right])

Images Cited

Groeger, Lena. “Gap and the Neuroscience of Logo Design » Scienceline.” Scienceline, 24 Oct. 2010, scienceline.org/2010/10/gap-and-the-neuroscience-of-logo-design/.

“How Neurons Are Able to Keep Up the Chatter.” Neuroscience News, 26 Nov. 2016, neurosciencenews.com/how-neurons-are-able-to-keep-up-the-chatter/.

“Split (2016 American Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_(2016_American_film).

Citations

Badhwar, Amanpreet & Jakobson, Estrid. “The Interplay between Neuroscience and Art.” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, 3 June 2017, www.ohbmbrainmappingblog.com/blog/the-interplay-between-neuroscience-and-art.

Groeger, Lena. “Gap and the Neuroscience of Logo Design » Scienceline.” Scienceline, 24 Oct. 2010, scienceline.org/2010/10/gap-and-the-neuroscience-of-logo-design/.

Marketing, ThinkResults. “Your Brain on Logos: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Logo Design.” ThinkResults, 17 Feb. 2015, thinkresultsmarketing.com/your-brain-on-logos-what-neuroscience-tells-us-about-logo-design/.

Nedelman, Michael. “What Shyamalan's 'Split' Gets Wrong.” CNN, Cable News Network, 23 Jan. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/01/23/health/shyamalan-split-movie-dissociative-identity-disorder/index.html.

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience + Art.” Lecture 1. <https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/888567/pages/unit-7-view?module_item_id=16300821>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience + Art.” Lecture 2. <https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/888567/pages/unit-7-view?module_item_id=16300821>.