Visual Cortexes: Brain-Art Competition Shows Off Neuroscience's Aesthetic Side
To highlight the artistic effort neuroscientists pour into their research images, a nonprofit group held a friendly competition. We review the top entries and winners
Visual Cortexes: Brain-Art Competition Shows Off Neuroscience's Aesthetic Side
- MRT STUDIES: STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES Look once, and this image seems just like any other brain scan. Look again, and a familiar nut appears. The comedic entry by researcher Andrea Carolin Lörwald took the humorous brain-representation category. "It's the surprise that works for this one—the 'Oh, it's a nut!'" Margulies says. "We're so familiar with these images, you just interpret the nut as brain matter. It takes a second to kick in and makes you realize the ubiquity of these images." Andrea Carolin Lörwald/The Neuro Bureau
- DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SEXES VIA HIERARCHICAL EDGE BUNDLING This winning entry in the human "connectome," or brain connections, category is based on fMRI data gathered from the brains of more than 1,000 people. Major brain regions are depicted in the outer circle, and specific locations (for example, "Amygdala L" is the left amygdala) are listed in the inner circle. In brain locations where women have increased connectivity compared with men, the color shifts toward red. Blue shows the areas where men have relatively higher connectivity. "He very clearly uses the cutting edge of data visualization, and it was the best way to get the information across. It's super clear, elegant and useful," Margulies says. "It's a graphic you'd often see in hot popular press publication, but rarely a neuroscience journal article." John McGonigle/The Neuro Bureau
- FABRIC MRI: BILL'S BRAIN When neuroscience artist Marjorie Taylor acquired MRI imagery of her husband Bill Harbaugh's brain, she wove the scans into a 1.2-meter by 1.8-meter hooked rug with wool fabric. "You have got to see this thing in person. The image doesn't capture how insane this piece is," Margulies says. The rug was put on exhibition with other entries at the 17th annual meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping in Québec City. Marjorie Taylor /The Neuro Bureau
- TEXTURED BRAIN The brain is a monotone mass of neurons that is often difficult to pick apart, even on a dissection table. Yet through a technique called diffusion MRI, which measures the spread of water molecules through neural tissue, researchers can add revealing color to the maze of connections. Ultra-strong magnetic fields on the order of 7 teslas (about 1,400 times stronger than a refrigerator magnet) manipulate the water molecules along tracks of white matter neurons, breaking the movement into three basic directions. Left–right tracks of neural tissue are represented by red, front–back tracks by green and top–bottom tracks by blue. Each track winds around in a specific way, lending it a unique color. Functional clusters of white matter emerge as colored regions. "It's a smart way to transform something so complex into something simple and immediately comprehensible," Margulies says of the diffusion MRI technique. Alfred Anwander and Robin M. Heidemann/The Neuro Bureau
- A CRADLE FOR REST cAlthough not a winner, this Newton's cradle–inspired illustration by University of Western Ontario neuroscience PhD student R. Matthew Hutchison is one of Margulies's favorites. "He's taking new line of research about the brain's functional organization and rendering it onto spheres. It's a reflection of theories on energy transfer between networks in the brain," Margulies says. R. Matthew Hutchison/The Neuro Bureau
- AMYGDALA ANATOMY IN AUTISM These spindly etchings depict the brain as if seen through the base of the head, with the forehead on the bottom. Almond-shaped amygdalae—regions that help the brain regulate emotion—are highlighted in yellow [left]. In the illustration at right, titled "palsy-walsy," a clown face hides between the amygdalae and "exemplifies the problems in processing facial emotional content" in those on the autistic spectrum, the creators wrote in their entry. They picked a jester because "[c]lown faces are usually characterized by exaggerated and potentially confusing or misleading facial features." "It's a visually disturbing piece, but in a playful way," Margulies says. "It's a wonderful commentary on the symbolic and material approaches to thinking about autism." Artist Michael Madore, who has Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism), collaborated with psychologist Isabel Dziobek of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development to create the work. Isabel Dziobek and Michael Madore/The Neuro Bureau
- REBRAIN The flat brain image at center looks simple enough. That is, however, precisely why its creator—neuroscientist Roberto Toro—won in the 3-D brain-rendering category. "This image completely maximizes the amount of cortex tissue you can see, but doesn’t distort it so you can't recognize the regions," Margulies says. Normally the regions on the periphery are hidden. "It's subtle but striking. We could bring this into practice as a novel way to display cortical maps," Margulies says. Roberto Toro/The Neuro Bureau
- SLICES OF LIFE On a vine-covered wall, MRI brain scans of happy minds and sad minds mingle. Artist Mireia Guitart collaborated with neuroscientist Simon Surguladze of King's College London to create the work, and she said it is meant to show how similar areas of the brain are activated in response to each emotion. "This was one of the favorites in the competition," Margulies says. The work earned runner-up in the abstract category. Mireia Guitart/The Neuro Bureau
- THE BRAIN TREE This hand-drawn illustration submitted by Norwegian artist Silje Soeviknes won the Brain-Art Competition's abstract category. "[I]n my language the brain stem is called the 'brain tree trunk' (hjernestamme) and the brain cortex is called the 'brain tree skin' (hjernebark)," Soeviknes said of her work's symbolism. Different leaves, fruits and stems represent major regions of the brain, which neuroscientists Erlend Hodneland and Judith Haász of the University of Bergen in Norway discussed with the artist. "We're so used to everything being computer-rendered, not someone taking their hand to paper," Margulies says. "It's a very elegant drawing that stands for itself in terms of beauty." Silje Soeviknes, Erlend Hodneland and Judith Haász/The Neuro Bureau
- LA MIE DE BRAIN Translated as "crumbs of the brain," this illustration of the cerebral cortex depicts the transition in early research of major regions to detailed modern analyses. Neuroscientists in the past century first mapped major brain regions (primary colors), but modern researchers are now studying connected structures at the cellular level. Vector arrows highlight major pathways between brain regions. Erik Ziegler and the Cyclotron Art Committee/The Neuro Bureau
