Week 7: Neuroscience+ Art

As one of the newest sciences, neuroscience stands at the front of scientific studies and researches. The most basic part of neuroscience comes from phrenology, which was first introduced by Franz Joseph Gall. He claims that human brain functions as different parts but integrated.

 While the study on human brain went deeper and further, it elevated to psychological level from structural level when Sigmund Freud wrote his master piece The Interpretation of Dreams. This book opened a window, through which people understand more about themselves and become more conscious about their inner life by studying their unconscious dreams, since dreams are forms of wish fulfillment-attempts by the unconscious to resolve a conflict of some sort, whether something recent or something from the recesses of the past. Also the images in the dreams are often not what they appear to be, rather the unconscious must distort and wrap the meaning of its information to make it through the censorship, and need deeper interpretation if they are to inform on the structures of the unconscious.

The topic of LSD also interests me, because it represents a typical issue raised when the development of neuroscience and medical technology imposes an unprecedented challenge on human being. LSD is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug , well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed- and open-eye visuals, synesthesia, an altered sense of time and spiritual experiences. It is used mainly as an entheogen, recreational drug, and as an agent in psychedelic therapy. Some artists use LSD to inspire their creativities. LSD is non-addictive, not known to cause brain damage, and has extremely low toxicity relative to dose. However, adverse psychiatric reactions such as anxiety, paranoia, and delusions are possible. This controversial drug draws discussion through the society.

There is no doubt that neuroscience gives people an alternative to understand themselves and contributes to the development of humanities and arts as well as to science and technology. Yet, we have to apply them in a proper way with a correct attitude. It is supposed to remember that curiosity killed the cat, especially when we face something new or things we really want to expose.

Citations:

1.Victoria, Vesna, dir. Neuroscience-pt2.mov. Film. 15 Nov 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlg5wXHWZNI&feature=player_embedded>.

2.Victoria, Vesna, dir. Neuroscience-pt3.mov. Film. 15 Nov 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlg5wXHWZNI&feature=player_embedded>.

3.. “The Interpretation of Dreams.” . N.p.. Web.15 Nov 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interpretation_of_Dreams>.

4.”Phrenology.” . N.p.. Web. 15 Nov 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology>.

5.”Lysergic acid diethylamide.” . N.p.. Web. 15 Nov 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysergic_acid_diethylamide>.

6.“The truth about LSD.” . N.p.. Web.15 Nov 2013. <http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/lsd.html>