Monday, May 16, 2016

Neuroscience and Art

Neuroscience has recently been a very large interest of mine. As a psychobiology major we briefly have touched on it in one of my social psychology classes where we explored what it actually meant to have consciousness. We learned that there are two types of consciousness that know brains have until know. Stream of consciousness, which means there is input to the brain. This is what animals have, where they can take in information with their senses and react to them but they cannot however consciously reflect on that information. The second type is the type that human brains have evolved the capacity to achieve: Reflexive consciousness. Our ability to take in information with our senses and think about, organize and understand that information. This ability is what has set mankind so far apart from every other species on the planet.
Image result for stream of consciousness
http://stuffo.hswstatic.com/stuffyoushouldknow/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2013/05/streamconscious_landing.jpg

http://www.thoseconspiracyguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/albert-hoffman-trippy.jpg
Neuroscience and the way that we understand the brain now has many applications. Some are great others aren't so great. The use of drugs to influence the brain is something that has become very prevalent in our modern society and also used for more sinister reason in other places of the world. Albert Hoffman experimented with LSD and its effects on the human brain. We also know that use of drugs can be used to change a persons mind and mess with their reflexive consciousness. In the movie "Blood Diamond" we see a man's son be taken and forced to be a child solider, the people who take him force him to use heroine regularly which damages his brain. The next time he sees his father he does not even recognize him.
Image result for blood diamond rebel training
https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/267445/charles-taylor-liberia-sierra-leone-blood-diamond-conflict-pictures-warning-graphic-images.jpg
Rebel training scene in blood diamond

References:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness/

Melissa. "One of the Most Shocking CIA Programs of All Time: Project MKUltra." Today I Found Out. N.p., 22 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 May 2016. <http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/09/one-shocking-cia-programs-time-project-mkultra/>.

Penrose, Roger. "The Third Culture - Chapter 14." The Third Culture - Chapter 14. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2016. <https://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/v-Ch.14.html>.

Uconlineprogram. "Neuroscience-pt1.mov." YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. 12 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzXjNbKDkYI>.

Uconlineprogram. "Neuroscience-pt2.mov." YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. 12 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFv4owX3MZo>.
Uconlineprogram. "Neuroscience Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, 16 May 2012. Web. 12 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5EX75xoBJ0>.

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2016 at 10:27 PM

    I like that you brought up the way neuroscience can be used for nefarious purposes. While knowledge of and tampering with the way our brains work can be interesting or useful for individual self-discovery and reflection, it can also be used as a weapon (another example other than the one you used would be operation MK Ultra).

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  2. UnknownMay 18, 2016 at 1:44 AM

    I think the multifaceted nature of drugs is a great topic to pull from this week's lecture - I like that you've brought together examples of both positive and negative aspects of drug use. It really goes to show that messing with the brain is a powerful mechanism and that people should inform themselves before using such agents.

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