Week 7 | Neurosci + Art | The Art of Neuroscience

As of this decade, the scientific community often comments "we know nothing about neuroscience" in the great scheme of life sciences. While nerves are the fundamental unit that dictates our consciousness, unconsciousness, and every and all form of communication within and outside of our physical bodies, we have yet to even touch upon the function of neurons as we did with other biological fields. The mixture of neuroscience and art has created a third culture coined "neuro-aesthetics" by John Hymen (Hymen 1). According to Mengfei Huang at Stanford, "Artists have also embraced new knowledge about visual perception to work alongside the discoveries of scientists" (Huang 1). Huang further asserts that “through their studies, modern psychologists have presented to us ways of ‘seeing’ works of art more competently...[and] have shown to us how the eye organizes visual material according to definite psychological laws" (Huang 1).

Tau is an abundant protein in neurons that stabilizes microtubules. Through immunofluorescence staining with fluorescent proteins, we witness a beautiful artwork of nature itself.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tau_protein>

I will never forget the first time I looked at neurons through the optical-fluorescent microscope and created my first piece of art from my neuroscience imaging research. As Carl Jung would put it, "Our age wants to experience the psyche for ourselves" (Jung 6).

Regarding the readings, I was particularly taken aback from analytical psychologist Carl Jung exploration different aspects of spirituality including religion, rational, and esoteric elements beliefs from the context of the unconscious and conscious part of human psychology. This week's reading "The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man," discusses the issues that I have personally come across through my spiritual life. Although easier said than done, the solution is through balancing the spiritually integrated life.

Artwork representing active consciousness.

<http://iconicallyrare.com/2012/08/08/releasing-your-inner-superhero-iconic-examples/>

Artwork representing the unconscious mind.

<http://infinityhousemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/TheUnconscious-art-150_905.jpg>

Carl Jung - The Self

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAPyRryK1HY>

Interested in Carl Jung's perspective on the spiritual problem of the modern man, I found his perspective of "The Self" to complement the way we position ourselves within our world.

From a medical perspective, it is much too common for a person to be diagnosed with some level of anxiety or neurosis. Especially considering the age of data gluttony surrounding us, it is often difficult to maintain a sane mind while sorting and sifting through all the junk and "information constantly bombarding us" (Vesna, Mind Intro 0:37).  Most psychological/neuroscience related conditions stem from a more understandable terminology, to be a split or severing between our conscious self and unconscious self. This theme of consciousness, unconsciousness, and subconsciousness has led to the creation of many beautiful artworks including the ones above. After reading Jung's article, I came to realize how self reflection or simply partaking in personal introspection can be the source of artistic motivation. 

References:

Huang, Mengfei. "The Neuroscience of Art." Stanford Journal of Neuroscience 371.9614 (2008): 1+. Web. <http://web.stanford.edu/group/co-sign/Huang.pdf>.

Hymen, John. Beyond Mimesis and Convention: Representation in Art and Science. Dordrecht: Springer, 2010. Art and Neuroscience. Queens.ox. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. <http://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/academics/hyman/files/art_and_neuroscience.pdf>.

Jung, Carl. "Carl Jung - The Self." YouTube. JungianMaps, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAPyRryK1HY>.

Jung, Carl. The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man (n.d.): n. pag.Selfhealingbiopolar. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. <https://selfhealingbipolar.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/c-g-jung-the-spiritual-problem-of-modern-man-1928.pdf>

Vesna, Victoria. "Mind Intro." YouTube. UCLA, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. <https://youtu.be/RF0Qt7L2-kM?t=37>.