Neuroscience + Art

Neuroscience and art have had a close relationship since the inception of neuroscience. The brain itself is a work of art, and much like the anatomy of the rest of the body, artists often took the brain as a subject of their works of art.

Figure 1: Graphic image of the brain

From the brain, comes the desire to understand how it works. Many studies and theories have surfaced surrounding the workings of the brain. Early Greek philosophers believed that the shape of one’s head determined how smart or artistic a person is. Although this was incorrect, the concept of it was not that far off, as many studies determined that different parts of the brain do correlate to functions of personality and actions. But I want to focus mostly on the LSD studies and its effect on the brain. The works of Timothy Leary came under great scrutiny since he was giving LSD to students to study its effects. Obviously they weren’t unwarranted as like the image below, LSD is known to make people see weird things and act in strange ways.

Figure 2: Image of something people may see on LSD

LSD, which until recently had been considered just a recreational drug, is illegal, however people are now again finding real lasting fixes to some mental issues. Most significantly it found that LSD helped terminally ill patients with the anxiety that comes with the knowledge of their impending doom. This is something that will really help those people moving forward. It is always interesting to me when I find out that something that is considered to be very illegal actually helps people it a very good way.

Figure 3: LSD propaganda

References

"The '60s Are Gone, But Psychedelic Research Trip Continues." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.npr.org/2014/03/09/288285764/the-60s-are-gone-but-psychedelic-research-trip-continues>.

Bateson, Greggory. "MIND AND NATURE." Oikos. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.oikos.org/mind&nature.htm>.

Devlin, Hannah. "Psychedelic Drugs like LSD Could Be Used to Treat Depression." The Guardian. N.p., 4 Mar. 2015. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fscience%2F2015%2Fmar%2F05%2Fpsychedelic-drugs-like-lsd-could-be-used-to-treat-depression-study-suggests>.

Rosch, Eleanor. "The Embodied Mind." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4RoH2z5DoC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=%22the%2Bembodied%2Bmind%22%2Bvarela&source=web&ots=1SOeYrx-HL&sig=mDZ8QxYMNtd9-CAGAj3IHTehlj4#v=onepage&q=%22the%20embodied%20mind%22%20varela&f=false>.

Thomas, Emily. "First LSD Study In 40 Years Shows Promising Medical Uses." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/06/lsd-anxiety-study-psychotherapy-_n_4906596.html>.