Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

    After researching neuroscience this week, it became evident that the worlds of neuroscience and art are interconnected. One of the specific fields of neuroscience that I took interest in this week was the connection between art, the brain, and LSD. LSD was first experimented with in the early 1950s, where it was famously studied as a treatment for various mental disorders, including illnesses such as alcoholism. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s LSD continued to grow in the world of psychiatric medicine, and through 1965 over 40,000 patients were prescribed LSD to treat alcoholism, schizophrenia, and psychopathy. 


1950's Housewife Describes her LSD Experience during a Study (from ABC News)

    However, the early hope for LSD to become the next big drug treatment in neuroscience ended when the drug was banned in the US in 1968. Following the ban, LSD took existence only off the official and legal medical market. Only recently has the emergence of newly approved studies of LSD and its effects on patients revived the medicinal hope it once promised. In fact, a recent 2016 study conducted in London found that LSD has great potential to reduce depression and anxiety as it demonstrated the ability to react with the brain neurons in a way that changes “entrenched patterns of thought” in patients (“LSD as Therapeutic Treatment”).   

LSD Neuroimaging During a Test (from The Scientist Magazine)

    Beyond its medicinal value in neuroscience, after researching LSD and its connection to art I found that it has great potential to shape the art world as well. In fact, the resurgence of the interest in LSD of the scientific community has been largely fueled by the observance of the effects of LSD on artists who have been taking the drug for decades. Scientists interested in the artistic effects of LSD even performed a study and found that LSD boosted “openness, cognitive flexibility, and creative thinking,” all of which is beneficial when expressing oneself artistically (Cortes). Another study that I found online showed how an artist draws differently when under the effects of LSD, as the pictures below were all drawn one after another over a period of time by an artist who had taken 200 micrograms of LSD.  


LSD Self Portraits (from Open Culture)

    As can be seen by the drawings, it is very evident that LSD can alter the brain and how it functions enormously. Whether it be within the art community or the scientific and medical communities, the potential benefits of incorporating LSD are astounding. It is important, however, to always keep in mind the safety concerns of LSD and the potential for an infamous ‘bad trip.” That being said, the establishment of legal, professional treatment centers that prescribe LSD and monitor their patients would be a great way to reap the potential health and artistic benefits of LSD in a safe way that could lead to great advances in both art and neuroscience. 

    

    References:


"Artist Draws Nine Portraits on LSD During 1950s Research Experiment." Open Culture, 15 Oct. 2013. Web. <https://www.openculture.com/2013/10/artist-draws-nine-portraits-on-lsd-during-1950s-research-experiment.html>


Braiker, Brian. "Learning from a '50s Housewife on Acid." ABC News, 18 Jan. 2011. Web. <https://abcnews.go.com/Health/1950s-housewife-acid/story?id=12640926>


Cortes, Michael Santiago. "Psychedelics May Offer Artists a Creative Boost." Artsy.net, 21 Dec. 2018. Web. <https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-psychedelics-offer-artists-creative-boost>


Costandi, Mo. "A Brief History of Psychedelic Psychiatry." The Guardian, 02 Sept. 2014. Web. <https://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2014/sep/02/psychedelic-psychiatry>


Dainius. "Artist Used LSD and Drew Themself for 9 Hours." Bored Panda, 2016. Web. <https://www.boredpanda.com/lsd-portrait-drawings-girl/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic>


Lim, Austin. "Psychedelics as Antidepressants." Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2021. Web. <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/psychedelics-as-antidepressants/>


"LSD as Therapeutic Treatment." Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 19 Jul. 2018. Web. <https://adf.org.au/insights/lsd-therapeutic-treatment/>


Williams, Ruth. "Psychedelic Neuroimaging." The Scientific Imaging, 13 Aug. 2016. Web. <https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/psychedelic-neuroimaging-33715>



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