Neuroscience and Art

There were many interesting topics discussed in this week's lectures. One topic that I found to be very interesting were the Brain bows. These images are visually stunning, and offer a lot of insight into the inner workings of the brain. I didn't know about brain bows before this lecture, so I looked into how these images are made and found out that transgenic mice were used to create them. This was interesting to me because it ties back in to what was discussed last week with the Biotech and Art lectures. It is interesting to see how these topics can overlap and build upon each other.
The other subject that interested me was the technology discussed in the TED Talk by Christopher deCharms. The use of mri technology to train yourself to control your brain is something that sounds like it came from a movie. I was surprised to learn that this technology is being tested, and in many cases is allowing patients with chronic pain to learn how to control their brain and manage their condition. This type of treatment seems like a great way to help people that aren't able to find relief from traditional treatments. The other part of the lectures that stood out to me was the use of certain drugs as treatments that are now illegal. This caught my attention because looking back at that era, it seems so strange that things like cocaine and LSD were so accessible and widely used, and it took quite a while for everyone to realize the potential dangers associated with these drugs.
This also makes me wonder what kind of drugs that are currently being used will eventually become illegal, or in other cases illegal drugs becoming legalized. This has already been happening across the country with many states legalizing cannabis for both medicinal and recreational usage. This was a drug that just a few years ago was completely illegal everywhere, but the stigma around it is slowly starting to change. Of course cannabis is not completely safe to use, as most drugs aren't, but it certainly is not as dangerous as our government made it out to be. I am interested to see how our country's views on certain drugs shift in the coming years.
Sources
“Brainbow.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainbow.

 deCharms, Christopher. “A Look inside the Brain in Real Time.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, Feb. 2008, www.ted.com/talks/christopher_decharms_scans_the_brain_in_real_time?language=en#t-216365.

 “Legality of Cannabis.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis.

 Victoria. “Neuroscience pt3.” YouTube, 16 May 2012, youtu.be/E5EX75xoBJ0.

 Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience-pt1.Mov.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzXjNbKDkYI.

Comments

  1. brontehalliganMay 30, 2018 at 2:10 PM

    Great post!, I liked your comment about Brain bows. It is really cool to see how they have used this on animals for science. I thought that part of the lecture was really cool too.

    ReplyDelete

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