VISUAL FINE ARTS BRIEF LOOK
ANGLES OF INTERSECTION DR SALIL PATEL + PROFESSOR CHRYSTALINA ANTONIADES
Can art enrich neuroscientific research? A collaborative project between The Ashmolean Museum and the University of Oxford NeuroMetrology Research Group, aims to find out.
To develop a complete mind: study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else. - Leonardo Da Vinci The relatively new field of neuroaesthetics mirrors this belief - using neuroscientific research to decipher how we create and perceive aesthetics. It is a field which has been rapidly growing in interest, thanks to recent advances in functional neuroimaging and other neurotechnologies which enable us to see which areas of the brain are activated on contemplating paintings and film, phrases and melodies. In turn, these discoveries have both clinical and societal relevance. The clinical importance of neuroaesthetics is clear. Mapping out functional areas of the brain can inform us how to diagnose and treat neurological conditions that may impact aesthetics perception and related cognition. The
038 | PATEL + ANTONIADES
ANGLES
NEUROMETROLOGY RESEARCH GROUP, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
societal implications of neuroaesthetics are slightly less well publicised. Art is sometimes seen as a luxury – at least some forms of it. But neuroaesthetics studies are showing how our minds are primed to seek out art, how art influences our behaviours and how art can gradually come to define us. Neuroscience, it seems, is not tainting art but instead showcasing its intrinsic universality. Brilliant work from colleagues such as Professors Semir Zeki and Vilayanur S. Ramachandran has shown that the two areas, art and science, are highly linked in the context of brain function. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is approaching its 350th anniversary. A university institution housing Turner paintings, an original Stradivarius violin and swathes of ancient papyri is hardly the first place that comes to mind when thinking of the intersection between art and neuroscience. However, a collaboration between the Ashmolean Museum