I recently took course called "Art and the Brain" at Stony Brook University. This course beautifully ties the arts to the sciences, allowing us to learn about neuroscience and subsequently create artwork based on our insights.
I created a project based on the 5 basic neurological senses: sound, smell, sight, taste, and touch. As I gathered my thoughts, I realized just how greatly my daily life is affected by my senses and the ways I use them.
Below is my outline regarding each sense, as well as each photograph I created to go alongside them.
SOUND: music and memory
- Music is strongly tied to my memory. A song or artist can take me back to a single toy from my childhood, a specific camping trip at age 10, or a particular car ride at age 17. I've played several instruments throughout my life, and my love and inclination for music has allowed for several transferable skills.
SMELL: fragrance and anxiety
- Scents play an interesting role in my life; I've always found certain smells soothing, and as someone with anxiety I learned very quickly to use it as a coping skill. Candles, perfumes, essential oils, you name it. They're an important part in slowing the wheels continually turning in my brain. In fact, it's an unconscious tick of mine that, when nervous or stressed, I pick up the nearest perfume bottle and spray my neck and chest.
SIGHT: color and mood
- Light reception through the eyes allows for the concept of color in my life. As an artist, color allows for endless forms of expression; as an individual, color is immensely important in terms of my moods and desires. Colorful lights or flowers can always help me brighten up a gloomy day.
TASTE: cooking and artistic reward
- Adaptability of the taste buds is something I know fully well from personal experience. I decided at age 17 to give up most animal products, and hence reroute my diet. At some point I began to cook for myself more than either parent or any restaurant, and not just for the food - being able to go through the process, plate the food beautifully, and eat it myself is somewhat of an art to me.
TOUCH: physicality and affection
- Touch is one of the 5 love languages, and I am what they call a "hugger". Love and affection, and the ways we accept and express them, play a significant role in our neurological health (hormones, happiness, humans as social creatures).
