Week 7 | Neuroscience + Art |

    This week I was able to learn more about neuroscience.  More specifically, neuroscience in the context of art.

How the field of neuroscience can help us understand and enhance our mental health and wellbeing | LawCare
Neuroscience

    To begin, I only ever had a surface level understanding of what neuroscience was.  I only understood it was a type of science that had to do with the mind or brain.  After some research, I was able to understand that neuroscience can be better defined as a study of the nervous system and how it interacts with the brain.


    One concept I was able to learn more about is the idea of brainhood.  Brainhood is the idea that our brain is who we are.  It is our personality, our decisions, and an embodiment of our consciousness.  We often see the idea of brainhood being displayed in vectors of art and media.  In “Neuroculture” by Giovanni Franzzetto and Suzanne Anker, I learned about the film “Donovan’s Brain”.  This film is able to build on the idea that you are your brain by taking the brain of a billionaire and showing all the billionaire's attributes are kept intact.  

What a look at more than 3,000 kinds of cells in the human brain tells us
Photo of the Human Brain

    A less philosophical art piece on neuroscience was a piece called “MRI Butterfly” by Suzanne Anker.  Anker was able to take multiple scans of the brain and overlay an identical butterfly over them.  She was able to create an optical illusion where each butterfly seems to be different in the scan even though there has been nothing done to alter the butterfly.

MRI Butterfly — Suzanne Anker
Image From "MRI Butterfly" by Suzanne Anker

Works Cited

Anker, S. (2023) Suzanne Anker, Suzanne Anker. Available at: https://www.suzanneanker.com/artwork/mri-butterfly.

‌Vesna, V. (no date) ‘Neuroscience+ Art | Lectures’.

Frazzeto, G. and Anker, S. (2009) ‘Neuroculture’, Nature Reviews, 10.

Jung, C. (no date) ‘The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man’.

Vidal, F. (2009) ‘Brainhood, anthropological figure of modernity’, History of the Human Sciences, 22(5). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695108099133.

Care, L. (no date) How the field of neuroscience can help us understand and enhance our mental health and wellbeing. Available at: https://www.lawcare.org.uk/media/4wafuude/human-brain-with-neuron-close-up.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=960&format=webp&quality=80&rnd=133346623469800000.

News, S. (no date) What a look at more than 3,000 kinds of cells in the human brain tells us. Available at: https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/101223_ls_new_brain_map_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1.

Anker, S. (no date) MRI Butterfly. Available at: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/64344824fc404f54a59864b5/041656ea-21ec-4552-9069-00ea96de3c3f/MRIButt3.jpg.


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Comments

  1. Casey ParkMay 15, 2025 at 3:06 PM

    Hi Brandon, I enjoyed reading about the new ideas you came to learn. I like how you focus on both ends of neuroart- the philosophical side and the scientific side. I think this makes the opinions on religion and the human psyche by Jung and Marx all the more relevant, since you delve into how the brain can be portrayed in either ways.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ryankingDESMA9May 16, 2025 at 10:12 AM

    Hey Brandon, I appreciate your ability to show the technical and science side of the brain and connecting it to how it is a form of art. It is crazy to think that the brain can perceive itself and learn about itself which is a form of art in my opinion

    ReplyDelete
  3. ElliotMay 18, 2025 at 12:22 PM

    Hey Brandon! I also learned more about neuroscience and how it connects to art. One concept that really stood out to me was "brainhoood", the idea that our identity comes from the brain. I also saw this in Suzanna Anker's MRI butterfly, where she used brain scans to show how context can change our perception. Overall great blog post!

    ReplyDelete

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