College of Science Distinguished Speaker: What Art can tell us about the Brain
College of Science Distinguished Speaker
What Art can tell us about the Brain
Dr. Margaret Livingstone
Takeda Professor of Neurobiology
Harvard Medical School
This lecture will be virtual only.
Abstract:
Artists have been doing experiments on vision longer than neurobiologists. Some major works of art have provided insights as to how we see. Some of these insights are so fundamental that they can be understood in terms of the underlying neurobiology. For example, artists have long realized that color and luminance can play independent roles in visual perception. Picasso said, "Colors are only symbols. Reality is to be found in luminance alone." This observation has a parallel in the functional subdivision of our visual systems, where color and luminance are processed by the evolutionarily newer, primate-specific What system, and the older, colorblind, Where (or How) system. Many techniques developed over the centuries by artists can be understood in terms of the parallel organization of our visual systems.
Dr. Livingstone will explore how the segregation of color and luminance processing are the basis for why some Impressionist paintings seem to shimmer, why some op art paintings seem to move, some principles of Matisse's use of color, and how the Impressionists painted "air". Central and peripheral vision are distinct, and Dr. Livingstone will show how the differences in resolution across our visual field make the Mona Lisa's smile elusive, and produce a dynamic illusion in Pointillist paintings, Chuck Close paintings, and photomosaics. Dr. Livingstone will explore how artists have figured out important features about how our brains extract relevant information about faces and objects, as well as why learning disabilities may be associated with artistic talent.
Speaker Bio:
See more here.
Intended Audience:
Those with interest in the topic. All are welcome.
Event Snapshot
When and Where
Who
Open to the Public
Interpreter Requested?
No