The Artistic Brain

 

The Artistic Brain

Briefly, the brain is the complex and essential organ that guidance human thoughts, feelings, motor skills, touch, vision, breathing and every process that control the body.  Otherwise it is a foundation of intelligence, a transducer of the senses, an initiator of body movement and a controller of behavior. The brain has three prominent parts, the Forebrain, Midbrain and Hindbrain. All these parts work together and have their own responsibility. Hindbrain is the particular part of the brain that functioning respiration and heart rate. It is associated with the upper part of the vertebral column. Moreover, include the brain stem and a ball of wavy tissue called the cerebellum.  The cerebellum synchronize movement and is involved in learned motions. For instance, when you play a drum or, the moment hit a ball, you are activating the cerebellum. Next, the midbrain which control eye movements and other optional movements are reflex motions. The part that covers wide areas is the forebrain. It's basically part of the human brain hidden underneath. This is actually a basic structure of the brain. However, the brain has a large and complex structure and functions including the geography of thought, inner brain, neurons and synapses. This article does not deal with those functions in depth, as this is not a biological description. However, in my opinion, as an artist you should study the human brain in depth.

                                Figure 1 - Primary structure of the brain (Wikipedia) 

Mind is another factor to consider when discussing sensations. Besides, “Mind is in some sense reflected in such occurrences as sensations, perceptions, emotions, memory, desires, and various types of reasoning, motives, choices, traits of personality, and the unconscious.”(Britannica) The brain and the mind are inseparable. This is because the structure and main process of the brain have been described above before entering the mind. Nurturing the brain can elevate the mind as a creative mind and a wise mind.

The brain structure, functional frequency, brain size with weight differences have changed over time from past to present such as Homo sapiens sapiens. The brain is designed to integrate old and new areas, the old one common to other animal species and the new one unique to humans, respectively. In practice, the human brain develops after birth, including neural connections and size. However, the basic anatomical structure of the brain is immutable.

A process similar to the growth of the brain from infant to adult, like adding the necessary ingredients to grow a tree from a seed. One is from the experiences of sharing things with parents and others. The nature of the experience leads to positive or negative enhancement in the brain. Attention, skill development and appreciation lead to creating positive minds in children. The second one is amiable relations. Third and special one is skill developmental activities such as playing, dance, singing, painting and mental activities. These activities increase brain power. The next trait is stress. Do you think stress is related to brain development? Simply yes but not negative stressors this means an emphasis on a positive path to confidence and personal growth.  This is a general and simple foundation process of the brain. However, the mind is a creative construct interconnected to the brain.

 

 “Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world”

-Casandra Brene Brown –

 

The mind exists in many forms. One of them is the creative mind and the other is the wise mind and the artistic mind.

Creative mind

The creative mind creates human uniqueness. The artist's mind is more creative than the normal mindset. However, don't misunderstand this to mean that only artists are truly artistic and creatively minded. A creative person has several options to make his life successful. For example, when someone has to solve a problem in his or her life, those with creative skills have multiple solutions to overcome it. Creative thinking develops with practice, like muscle strengthening in practice and awareness.  There are some characteristics of creative mindset. They are non-judgmental, intuitive, and curious, have strong imaginations, and are optimistic and open-minded.

The brain is divided into two parts, right and left. Biologically, the left side of the brain deals with more analytical and logical matters, while the right side of the brain deals with emotions. The right hemisphere is mainly involved in visual and language processing. At the back of the brain, the hippocampus is charged with storing and retrieving memories, while the amygdala is responsible for processing emotions. The hippocampus and amygdala, both parts of this system, are particularly relevant to creativity and imagination and help form ideas.

                                                                      Figure 2 – Wikipedia  

                                                 Figure 3 - Brain scan contrasted by art

 Bolwerk, Mack-Andrick, Lang, Dörfler, Maihöfner, (2014) “How Art Changes Your Brain: Differential Effects of Visual Art Production and Cognitive Art Evaluation on Functional Brain Connectivity”