Week 7. Neuroscience + Art

This week’s topic I believe is very closely related to each other as art is created in our minds, in our conscious and unconscious state. 

My journey of discovering neuroscience and art started with the research on starfish when I found out why they say that starfish have no brain. It is an interesting feature that instead of having a centralized brain, they have a complex nervous system. Interestingly enough, the creatures we know so little have approximately 70% of their genes similar to humans, which makes sea creatures, sea sponges in particular, so important for us.

Another thing that was interesting is perception of drugs as they were discovered or synthesized. People were using heavy drugs as painkillers or to cure some specific ailment. Later in history people discovered the stimulating effect of some drugs on the human brain that helped a lot of people to create their masterpieces. Nowadays, we know musicians who write their songs under the influence of some drugs. It feels like these substances allow people to open the door to their inner selves, discover something unknown and recreate it in their songs, on paper, or on canvas. 

The attitude to different drugs changes every day as new research comes up, and no one is sure one substance is safe for people to take or not. All we know is that it affects our brian and nervous system as people see things that are not real. However, we should not rescard the fact that a lot of great pieces were created under the influence of drugs. 

Anders Garm, Sensory Biology of Starfish—With Emphasis on Recent Discoveries in their Visual Ecology, Integrative and Comparative Biology, Volume 57, Issue 5, November 2017, Pages 1082–1092, https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icx086

Vesna, V. (n.d.). Lecture I. DESMA 9: Art, Science and Technology. Canvas UCLA. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/129921/modules 

Vesna, V. (n.d.). Lecture III. DESMA 9: Art, Science and Technology. Canvas UCLA. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/129921/modules 

American Addiction Centers. (2022, January 5). 30 famous musicians who have battled Drug Addiction & Alcoholism. DrugAbuse.com. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://drugabuse.com/blog/30-famous-musicians-who-have-battled-drug-addiction-and-alcoholism/ 

Freud, S. (2012). Uber Coca. EOD Network. 

BBC. (n.d.). Matrix: A origem e o polêmico legado do Filme no Mundo Real. BBC News Brasil. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-59786590 

Starfish-Asteroidea. GT Comparative Anatomy - Home. (n.d.). Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://gtanatomy.weebly.com/starfish-asteroidea.html 

Habicht, K. (2019, April 26). A scientific look at your brain on Shrooms. 5280. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.5280.com/2019/04/a-scientific-look-at-your-brain-on-shrooms/