Alisa Blundon

Professor of Neurobiology at the University of London

How does

the brain see?

“Of all the colours, the most pleasing are the ones

which constitute opponents.”

-- Leonardo Da Vinci.

rtists as the first

neurologists

A

Artist can only deal

with aspects that they observe

What if bees created art?

Michael Posner

How Arts

Training Influences

Cognition

Split Brain Research

Roger Sperry

Betty Edwards

“The two disconnected hemispheres function

independently and in effect have each a separate mind

of its own. Each of the separated hemispheres appears to have its own

private sensations, perceptions, thoughts,

feelings and memories. Each hemisphere has its own

inner visual world, each cut off from the conscious

awareness of the other.”~Roger Sperry

Left-hemisphere (L-mode):

foursquare, upright,

sensible, direct, true, hard-edged, un-fanciful, and forceful

Right- hemisphere (R-mode): curvy, flexible, more playful in its unexpected twists and

turns, more complex,

diagonal, and fanciful

Are you Right or

Left Brained?

Betty Edwards’

Up-Side Down

Drawing

Both Sides Now: Visualizing and Drawing with the Right and Left Hemispheresof the Brain

IS

rene chif

erl

Technological

Advancements

(EEGs) electroencephalogram

s vs.

functional magnetic resonance imaging

(fMRI)

“For some tasks, responses concentrate heavily in one hemisphere while for other cognitive functions both hemispheres respond robustly. In many studies, responses fall between these two extremes. Even the

ability to read and write in English – where a strong left hemisphere response is well documented – involves right hemisphere activity.”

~ Irene Schiferl

Implications of Brain

Research in Art

Education

Perry & Janet Rettig

Implication One

Emotion

Implication Two:All the Senses

Implication Three:

Self-Direction

Implication Four: Interaction

Implication Five:

Pattern & Organizati

on

“How can you expect

to talk about realism,

perspective and other

sights of the eye if you

don’t actually

know how the eyes and brain

work?”~Irene Schiferl

Edwards, Betty, Drawing on the Artist Within, 1986, Simon & Schuster, Inc.Edwards, Betty, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, 1999, Penguin Putnam Inc. Eisner, Elliot, The arts and the Creation of Mind, 2002, Yale University Press.Gardener, Howard, Art, Mind, and Brain,1992, Basic Books Inc. Gardener, Howard, Art, Mind, and Education, 1989, University of Illinois Press.Hetland, Lois, Studio Thinking, 2007, Teacher’s College Press.Posner, Michael, How Arts Training Influences Cognition, 2008, Dana Consortium Reports on the Arts and Cognition, The Dana Foundation, 1-10.Rettig, Perry and Janet, Linking Brain Research to Art, 1999, Art Education Journal, 19-24.Schiferl, Irene, Both Sides Now: Visualizing and Drawing with the Right and Left Hemispheres of the Brain, 2008, Studies in Art Education A Journal of Issues and Research, 67-82.Sperry, Roger, Hemisphere Disconnection and Unity in Conscious Awareness, 1968, American Psychologist, 723-33.Sylwester, Roy, 1995, A celebration of neurons: An educator’s guide to the human brain, Alexandria Publications.Zeki, Semir, Inner Vision, 1999, Oxford Press.

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