Neuroscience + Art

 Neuroscience can impact art though various different lenses. First, neuroscience can be helpful in detecting how the brain perceives art and processes art. This can lead to findings of new trends and understanding how and why people react to different aesthetics and forms of art. On the emotional side, neuroscience in art can help identify certain responses that viewers have to art and how certain work evokes certain emotions. Professor Vesna discusses our consciousness and how we are neurologically able to listen, understand, and respond in a conversation while also possibly having other thoughts in the back of our head (Lecture I). When I paint, I usually am listening to music or deep in thought about something that has nothing to do with the work I am creating. And the majority of the time, this turns out to be my best work. Because neuroscience allows it, artists are able to create while often being consumed by something else and I think that is such a fascinating aspect of human nature.  

Figure 1. How different emotions are shown in the brain

Figure 2. UCLA Scientists Studying Brain Stimulation

Each artists has an intention of evoking some emotion out of the their viewers. According to Zeki, "most painters are also neurologists" (Oxford University Press). Artists are able to evoke emotion through their work through different compositions, colors, depth, symbolism, and even storytelling. Just like how neurologists study how the brain reacts and processes, so do artists in pulling at the emotions of the viewers. Lastly, a lot of art is abstract and up for interpretation and I think this goes to show how artists are able to create something that viewers can connect to in unique ways, evoking similar emotions but through personal experiences and interpretations. For example, though one of the most famous paintings of all time, the Mona Lisa has several different interpretations. Some say that she is happy and content whereas other viewers see her as angry, fearful, or even distgusted. No matter the emotion evoked, the famous piece connects to people and that is what makes it so special.

Figure 3. Mona Lisa

Image Citations

Da Vinci, L. (1506). Mona Lisa [Painting]. Musee du Louvre, Paris, France. 

Strickland, Ashley. “This is what emotions look like in your brain.” CNN, 6 October 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/06/health/spontaneous-emotions-brain-scans/index.html.

“With $7M Grant From NIH, UCLA Scientists to Study if Brain Stimulation During Sleep Can Bolster Memory.” UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, 27 October 2022, https://samueli.ucla.edu/with-7m-grant-from-nih-ucla-scientists-to-study-if-brain-stimulation-during-sleep-can-bolster-memory/.

Citations

Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. “Neoculture.”  Perspectives,  

Macmillan Publishers Ltd., Nov. 2010, http://suzanneanker.com/publications/. 

Levy, Ellen K., and Robert Pepperell. “Connecting Art and the Brain: An Artist's Perspective on Visual Indeterminacy.” Frontiers, 30 July 2011, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00084/full.

“Scientists dissect Mona Lisa's smile.” NBC News, 15 December 2005, https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10484224. Accessed 18 May 2023.

 

Vesna, Victoria. Lecture.  “Neuroscience + Art, Consciousness and Memory (Part 1)".  

DESMA 9, Web. 18 May 2023, UCLA.   

Vesna, Victoria.  Lecture. “Neuroscience + Art, Unconscious Mind/Dreams (Part 2)".  DESMA 9, 

Web. 18 May 2023, UCLA.

Vesna, Victoria. Lecutre. “Neuroscience + Art, Neurochemical (Part 3)".  DESMA 9, Web. 18 May 2023, UCLA.

 

Zeki, Semir. Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain. Oxford University Press, 2003.