OHBM Brain Art

"The Connected Brain" 2022 Brain Art Exhibit

Connectedness - within and between individuals - has been in the crosshairs of exciting scientific inquiry and has also reached unprecedented levels and widespread awareness of crucial societal issues. Specific examples are numerous:

• The Human Connectome Project aims to map and elucidate the structural and functional connections of the human brain.
• -The availability of large-scale data and advancements in computer systems necessary to analyse these data lead to exciting new developments in the mathematical theory and practical utility of networks.
• -The enforced isolation and subsequent reconnection with others in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our psychological and general physical health and reshapes the way we connect with ourselves and others in our private and working lives.
• -Movements for racial and gender equality and climate change are becoming more impactful through global connections and international efforts.
• -The popular game “Six degrees of separation” and a person’s “Erdős Number” are both based on or are measures of connectedness.

In this context, we envision an exhibition under the theme “The Connected Brain”, which explores the topic of connectedness on three different axes:

Axis I. (dis/re)Connection with self: Axis one focuses on disconnection and reconnection with the self. Enforced, or for that matter voluntary, isolation is a double-edged sword. While some revel in the opportunity for self-reflection, self-love, and personal development, others struggle with the loneliness that comes with it. On a more neuroanatomical level, learning new skills (e.g. piano playing) is correlated with strengthened connections within the brain, while ‘disconnection syndromes’ can have devastating effects on quality of life.

Axis II. (dis/re)Connection with others: The second axis focuses on connection, disconnection, and reconnection with family, colleagues, and friends. As we move our work and our private/social lives online, we inevitably re-shape our expectations from and responsibilities towards the networks to which we belong. Also, sometimes voluntary segregation from a network with a bad influence or undesirable peer pressure is the key to personal development, while other times finding the right group of people who can bring out the best in us is the answer.

Axis III. (dis/re)Connection with environment and nature: The third axis focuses on personal connection with environmental and societal causes. A crucial effect of the fact that our private and professional lives become increasingly globalized is that our lives touch and are touched by many others from different continents, cultures, and races. Importantly, through this interconnectedness, we become aware of (and even passionate about) issues that may not have local relevance where we live and thus previously we might have unknowingly ignored.

Intersted in submitting a proposal? Check out our call for artists! Information on how to submit will be posted soon!

Past Brain Art Exhibits

2021 Brain Art Exhibit

2020 concluded the first decade of ‘Big Data' studies in neuroimaging. Our community has benefited from datasets collected by the Human Connectome Project, UK Biobank, ADNI, ENIGMA, Psychiatric Genetic Consortium, and others. With the 2021 Brain Art Exhibition and Competition, we celebrated the achievements of Big Data neuroimaging projects, while acknowledging the unremitting suffering of individuals affected with brain disorders. Our contributing artists to explored the theme of translating findings from Big Data studies to the development of personalized treatments for brain disorders.

Featured artists for the 2021 exhibt were:
Trina Lion
Clara Soto
Rachel Scott
Batool Rizvi
Susan Aldworth
Richard Bright
Alicia Lefebvre
Zsofia Morvay

"Big Data and Me" Axes

One axis of the exhibition examined topics such as inclusivity, diversity, representation of populations, statistical power and inference in the large datasets.

The second axis explored the personal suffering of individuals affected with brain illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression, age-related neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and autism. We dedicated it to the artistic interpretations of the hope and expectation for recovery.

The third axis (i.e. the space between) hosted the pioneering ideas of linking these levels of observation, as interpreted by artists who are encouraged to explore the reciprocal effects between Big Data research and personalized treatment, i.e. breaking of the barrier between research findings and treatment. Aspects of such exploration may include (a) how an individual is affected by the group to which one belongs and how much we can predict the characteristics of an individual from group membership. Conversely, how the criteria for inclusion of individuals into a group define the group as a whole; (b) how Big Data findings will power new diagnostic and treatment strategies that emphasize the individual variability; (c) artistic interpretations of the mathematical concepts of ‘many to one mapping’ and ‘scale invariance’ and in particular, how these concepts relate to neuroscience.

Past Brain Art Exhibits

2020

NeuroDiversity was developed along three axes. Axis 1 gave underrepresented groups in neuroscience a voice. Axis 2 showcased art pieces by neurodiverse populations - for whom art can be a means of communication, an instrument for therapy, or a source of solace and pleasure. Axis 3 was designed to highlight the geographic, ethnic and cultural richness within the OHBM community. Click here to see the works from the OHBM 2020 Brain Art Exhibit

2019

Click here to see the the works from the OHBM 2019 Brain Art Exhibit.