As with most of the topics in this class, I had no idea how
neuroscience and art could be connected until I listened to the lectures. I was
impressed with the brainbow and how crafty it looked but I was most surprised
by the incorporation of illegal drugs into the lectures.
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| http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_libnzgyGxE1qhwpt9o1_r2_1280.jpg |
I found LSD to be very amusing in its effects after taking
the 1960’s cluster as a freshman at UCLA. I have never experienced these
effects, nor do I ever plan to, but I am still very curious about them. The
lectures sparked my curiosity and I came across a serious of photos from a girl
on LSD that drew self-portraits before and during the effects of the drug set
in. I find that the creativity increases exponentially the stronger the effects
of the drug become.
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| No effect of LSD, self-portrait |
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| 8 hours after taking high dose of LSD, self-portrait |
In his TEDTalk, Christopher deCharms asks the audience to
raise their arms and wave and then explains that we can program our neurons to
stimulate our muscles to wave. He claims, “soon you will be able to look inside
your brain and program/control the hundreds of brain areas you see there”. He
also mentioned that people going through an fMRI can see areas in their brain
that are affected by chronic pain and can control their minds to stop the pain.
If we can control pain then we can probably look into our brains through fMRI
and simulate an acid trip on LSD. This could soothe people with psychiatric
disabilities just as LSD and cocaine were used for in the past before it was
deemed harmful, or it could create a whole new genre of (drug free) psychedelic
art.
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| http://www.invivonmr.ualberta.ca/Education/visual.png [fMRI] |
Sources
Art of Neuroscience." Society for Neuroscience. Society for Neuroscience, n.d. Web. 11
May 2015.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfn.org%2Fannual-meeting%2Fneuroscience-2014%2Fat-the-meeting%2Fart-of-neuroscience>.
Bob. "Girl Draws Self-portraits before and during LSD
High." TheCHIVE RSS. N.p., 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 11 May 2015.
<http://thechive.com/2013/11/14/girl-draws-self-portraits-before-and-during-lsd-high-12-photos/>.
DeCharms, Christopher. "A Look inside the Brain in Real
Time." TedTalk. TED Conferences, Feb. 2008. Web. 11 May 2015.
<http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_decharms_scans_the_brain_in_real_time?language=en#t-52743>.
Freeman, Shanna. "How LSD Works." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 10 Dec. 2008. Web. 11
May 2015. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/lsd.htm>.
McDougle, Sam. "GALLERY: The Art of Neuroscience Vol.
II." The Beautiful Brain RSS. WordPress, 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 11 May
2015. <http://thebeautifulbrain.com/2010/10/gallery-the-art-of-neuroscience-vol-ii/>.
Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, 16 May 2012. Web. 11 May 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5EX75xoBJ0>.
Hi Lauren, I read your post several times, and I really enjoy your post. According to your post, I can feel that you want to show the close relationship between Neuroscience and art. Art can be created by our mind and brain, and art can also affect our mind and brain.
ReplyDeleteI also found the lecture on the psychedelic drugs interesting because I rarely hear associations between drugs and art. I also enjoyed your example of how LSD can enhance art. I believe most of the time, people associate drugs with negative effects (which is not wrong) but don’t focus on some of the positive affects. For example, as with the problem of legalizing marijuana. There are two sides of the coin—weed can become addictive or become a gateway drug but it can also benefit those with health problems. Your example of LSD is similar—although LSD can become addictive or enhance negative emotions, if used in a controlled environment can also lead to beautiful art. I am not making a comment of my opinion in legalizing certain drugs, but merely saying that there are many different and important viewpoints when it comes to drugs. Your blog response looks at psychedelic drugs from a different and interesting viewpoint.
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