Tag Archives: Mind

Shadows in a Labyrinth

Canadian multidisciplinary artist Stéphanie Morissette’s works reflect on human behavior and the use of technologies in our quotidian life as well as in the geopolitical sphere; on conflicts and their psychological impact on the different participating actors.

In this exclusive interview she discusses her project, ‘Shadows in a Labyrinth’ (with co-collaborator Dale Einarson), which reflects on the complexity, the flaws and ephemeral aspects of our brain and memory, as well as on the medium and technologies, drawing parallels with mental illness and disease like Alzheimer.

The Lines that Connect

Amanpreet Badhwar is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre de Recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), Université de Montréal , where she works on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias. Her research combines structural and functional imaging with clinical and genetic assessments to relate variations in brain connectivity to clinical status, and to develop early markers of AD pathology. She is also an artist. In this exclusive interview she discusses her relationship between art and neuroscience.

Notes Toward a Theory of Sensorimotor Understanding

Dan Lloyd is the Thomas C. Brownell Professor of Philosophy and a Professor of Neuroscience at Trinity College, Connecticut. He is the author/editor of ‘Subjective Time: The philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of temporality’ (co-edited with Valtteri Arstila). In this article he discusses his developing research into the animation and sonification of brain activity.

Aesthetics and Memory

Anjan Chatterjee is a professor of neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics and a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. His research focuses on spatial cognition and its relationship to language. He also conducts neuroaesthetics research and writes about the ethical use of neuroscience findings in society.

Could consciousness all come down to the way things vibrate?

Tam Hunt is an Affiliate Guest in Psychology in the META Lab, Psychological and Brain Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Barbara. His work focuses on the philosophy of mind, reconciliation of scientific and spiritual views of the world, and the interaction of mind and matter. A practicing lawyer, he brings a unique perspective to psychology and philosophy.

Language alters our experience of time

“My new study – which I worked on with linguist Emanuel Bylund – shows that bilinguals do indeed think about time differently, depending on the language context in which they are estimating the duration of events. But unlike Hollywood, bilinguals sadly can’t see into the future. However, this study does show that learning a new way to talk about time really does rewire the brain. Our findings are the first psycho-physical evidence of cognitive flexibility in bilinguals.”

Panos Athanasopoulos is Professor of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University. He works in the areas of experimental psycholinguistics, experimental cognitive linguistics, bilingual cognition, linguistic and cultural relativity, first, second and additional language learning.

The Brain as a Time Machine

“In many ways the brain is a time machine, we remember the past to predict the future and we engage in mental time travel (we can mentally project ourselves into the past and future). Additionally, we are pretty good at telling time, whether demonstrated by catching a ball, playing the piano, or anticipating when the red light will change to green. But how does Mother Nature build clocks using neurons?”

Dean Buonomano is a professor in the Departments of Neurobiology and Psychology, and a member of the Brain Research Institute, and the Integrative Center for Learning and Memory at UCLA. He is a leading researcher on how the brain tells time. His new book is is titled ‘Your Brain is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time.’

Felt Time

“One could say that the study of time consciousness overlaps with the study of phenomenal consciousness. Conscious awareness is extended awareness of duration, temporal order, the present-moment, and the passage of time.”

Marc Wittmann is currently employed at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health, Freiburg, Germany. He has written two books on the topic of time perception. ‘Felt Time’ has been published in 2016 by MIT Press and ‘Altered States of Consciousness’ is going to appear in August 2018, also published by MIT Press.

Between the human body and the inner self

Valeriya N-Georg is an artist inspired from Neuroscience, Psychology and Consciousness studies, who works with a range of media: drawing, printmaking, mixed media and sculpture.

“My principal interest is Neuroscience, as a system of exploring the relationship between the human body and the embodied self. I use fragments of physical anatomy to visually represent the inexpressible experience of inhabiting a body; the boundaries between the inner and outer self; between the physical and metaphysical; tangible and intangible, the tactile and the optical.”

The Language of Line

“The entry point to my mark making lies in my everyday experience. These marks I interpret as imaginary traces that reflect the fragility of both human and environmental interconnectedness. Although I constantly see traces around me, the experience of absorbing these traces is not so much a visual experience as it is a physical process. Seeing is more a cyclical slippage between the reception of absorbing external traces and the inner resonance I feel inside my body.”

Formally a cardiac nurse, artist Sonya Rademeyer uses the vehicle of sound, movement and deep listening to explore the sensing of traces in her everyday experiences and the fragility of line to capture and translate them into form.