Summary of Twenty-First Century Great Conversations in Art, Neuroscience and Related Therapeutics

Abstract

Transdisciplinary collaboration is the future of knowledge making in advanced post-industrial societies and there is a growing awareness that the most vexing problems we face cannot be solved by any single discipline. Best practices for complex and challenging physical and mental disorders require a multi-disciplinary approach, yet there is a void in bridging the gap between the most contemporary models. It is in this capacity that the Twenty-First Century Great Conversations in Art, Neuroscience, and Related Therapeutics serves as a missing link. It was with active minds and a collective spirit that artists, scientists, therapists, physicians, engineers, technology experts, healthcare practitioners, and researchers from across the globe transcended historical silos to explore the capacities for collaborative partnerships to influence the health of patients and the amelioration of disease. Hosted at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), presenters shared insights through didactic sessions and panel discussions aligned with three tracks led by prominent experts in their respective fields: (1) Neuroaesthetics, Anjan Chatterjee, MD; (2) Creativity and Consciousness, Arne Dietrich, PhD; and (3) Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI), Klaus Gramann, PhD. The goals for this symposium were developed from a vision which embraces cross-disciplinary intersectionality, a merging of viewpoints, and active dialogue surrounding the development of a common language with which to advance the Creative Arts Therapies and neurosciences. The goal was also to contribute to the development of a simplified roadmap to enhance and enrich the CATs with a greater understanding of neuroscience and the available technologies that can assist in research.

Using mobile brain/body imaging to advance research in arts, health, and related therapeutics

“…The MoBI community opened new doors with the 2016 International Conference on Mobile Brain-Body Imaging and the Neuroscience of Art, Innovation and Creativity and continues to expand (Cruz-Garza et al, 2019;Gramann, 2018;Gramann et al, 2017;King, 2018). Here, partners in the sciences, arts, and therapeutics discussed the use of MoBI to foster knowledge in their respective fields.…”

The Embodied-Enactive-Interactive Brain: Bridging Neuroscience and Creative Arts Therapies

“…Further research that evaluates the presented mechanisms will be valuable and useful to the field. Recent developments of mobile brain/body imaging technology, for example, may yield more extensive understandings of brain function in natural settings and in relational contexts, also during real-time artistic creation (King, 2018;Cruz-Garza et al, 2019;King and Parada, 2020).…”

The positive outcome of educating HIV‐infected children about beauty in an African village

“…Education in the perception of beauty may be a formative issue for all children. It may result in better character and contribute to forming adults who are able to appreciate what is notable in the world (King, 2018).…”