marinamDESMA9

Week 7 | Neuroscience + Art

Friday, May 16th, 2025

Consciousness, Music, and Memory: Where Neuroscience Meets Art

The lectures this week on neuroscience and consciousness, supplemented with artistic examples, have fundamentally altered my perception of the brain—not merely as a biological organ but as a profoundly expressive and interpretive instrument. While I’ve always considered the brain to be the body’s control center, responsible for thinking and memory, this week helped me view it as something much more poetic. Through the lectures and readings, I was introduced to a realm in which neuroscience and art are profoundly connected, and in which the investigation of consciousness encompasses not only scientific dimensions but also emotional, philosophical, and creative aspects. I was particularly influenced by the class discussions on memory and dreaming, the renowned H.M. case study, and The Amygdaloids' Fearing music video. Every instance underscored the incorporation of memory, identity, emotion, and creativity within our brain's neural circuits, as well as the intriguing ways in which both artists and scientists investigate these notions.

I was truly shocked by the H.M. case, in which a patient’s hippocampi were surgically removed to treat severe epilepsy, resulting in irreversible anterograde amnesia. It showed how delicate and vital memory is, not just for remembering faces or information but for creating our self-identity. I found it most remarkable that H.M., despite being unable to create new memories, still had access to older ones and was able to learn specific motor skills. This indicated that various forms of memory are stored and processed in different regions of the brain. His condition illustrated that memory is not merely a technical, neurological function; it serves as the foundation of our lived experience and personal narrative. Without it, we are unable to relate the past to the present, strategize for the future, and sustain our relationships. This caused me to think about how easily we assume memory is a given, when in reality it is one of the most essential aspects of being human.

1. Luke Dittrich – "Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets"

This documentary helped me visualize what our lecture described: H.M.’s story isn’t just medical, it’s emotional. It made me ask: How do we store a moment? What happens when memory fails?

I investigated the situation of Clive Wearing, a musician who suffers from one of the most severe forms of amnesia, in order to enhance my comprehension of the emotional impact of memory. Although he lacks short-term memory, he is still able to play the piano with both emotion and precision. This indicates that music and memory are located in separate areas of the brain, and that creative expression can endure neurological injury. I was as affected by his tale as I was by H.M.'s.



Charles Limb’s TED Talk on jazz musicians improvising inside an fMRI machine was another highlight of the week. The scans revealed that during improvisation, artists turn off the self-monitoring centers of their brains. This indicates that deep creativity frequently requires relinquishing conscious control, mirroring our experiences of dreaming and inspiration.
At last, I viewed a PBS Space Time video discussing the reasons behind dreaming. The video clarified how dreams assist in memory processing, future simulation, and problem-solving. It dawned on me that dreaming isn’t passive; rather, it plays an active role in cognition. Those who create art with dream logic are drawing from a genuine process rooted in neurology.


This week taught me that neuroscience and art aren’t separateշ they reflect one another. Whether through memory, music, or dreams, the brain constantly creates meaning. Artists help us see what the brain feels, and science helps us understand how it’s possible.

Works Cited

  1. Dittrich, Luke. Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets. Random House, 2016.

  2. “The Man with the 7 Second Memory – Clive Wearing.” YouTube, uploaded by Real Stories, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_P7Y0-wgos

  3. Limb, Charles. “Your Brain on Improv.” TED, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BomNG5N_E_0

  4. “Why Do We Dream?” PBS Space Time, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig

  5. Lecture Slides – Week 7: Neuroscience, Memory, and Consciousness, DESMA 9, UCLA

Comments

  1. Natasha Kieckhafer DESMA9May 15, 2025 at 11:58 AM

    Hi Marina! It was very interesting to read your post! I really like how you included the links to videos, that was very insightful, and I have not seen any other posts do that! I totally agree with you on the subject that dreaming is not passive. The subject of dreams deeply fascinate me, and I find it so amazing how our mind works. On top of this, I love your line "Artists help us see what the brain feels, and science helps us understand how it’s possible." This perfectly encapsulates this weeks material.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

marinamDESMA9

Image
Hello everyone, I'm Marina, a senior Biology major at UCLA who is passionate about both science and the arts. I enrolled in this course because I've always been drawn to both analytical and creative thinking, and I want to figure out how to bridge those worlds—especially as I get ready to pursue a career in pediatric medicine. C.P. Snow’s view that society suffers from the division between the sciences and the humanities—arguing that it hinders collaboration and progress—was introduced to me through the UC Online – Two Cultures video series. In Part 1, Snow's critique highlights how mutual misunderstanding between disciplines prevents real problem-solving. Steven Pinker, in his video from Two Cultures , expands this idea by proposing a "Third Culture," where scientists and artists collaborate instead of operating in silos. I found Pinker’s optimism encouraging and realistic in a world increasingly shaped by interdisciplinary challenges. The RSA Animate: Changi...
Read more

marinamDESMA9

Image
 Week 2 | Math + Art | Marina Mantashian Wednesday, April 9th, 2025 My perspective on the relationship between science, math, and art has changed as a result of this week. I came to see that math is a creative framework that both scientists and artists utilize to construct meaning, solve problems, and produce beauty after viewing Math Intro and Mathematics pt.1: Zero, Perspective, Golden Mean. I was particularly struck by the concept of perspective. Finding out that Renaissance artists started employing vanishing points and geometric computations to produce realistic depth in paintings captivated me. Perspective fundamentally altered how people visually represented emotion and location. Additionally, I discovered that the Golden Ratio, a mathematical proportion of 1:1.618, has influenced the aesthetics and design of nature, art, and architecture. The Golden Ratio in Nature movie showed me how this ratio is present in pinecones, shells, and galaxies—it brings harmony and balance t...
Read more

marinamDESMA9

Image
 Week 3 | Robotics + Art | Marina Mantashian Wednesday, April 16th, 2025 This week, I explored how robotics and AI intersect with art and what that means for originality and humanity. I was especially drawn to Harold Cohen’s AARON , an early AI system that created unique images without human handholding. AARON raises deep questions about creativity: when a machine can generate visual art, who is the artist—the machine or its programmer? Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction examines how art loses its “aura” when it’s mass-produced. But AI-generated art isn't simply reproduced—it’s generated, often unpredictably. That made me think: could AI have its own kind of aura? Or does that only exist in human touch? To dig deeper, I revisited Ex Machina , where the AI Ava is more than a machine—she expresses, questions, and deceives. Like AARON, Ava shows us that robotics isn’t just about function anymore—it’s about intention . Society often responds to thi...
Read more