Music and Neuroscience: animating brains
This is a snippet of animation from the Neuroscience and Guitar event on the 22nd October, a collaboration between neuroscientist Anil Seth, musician Richard Durrant and myself. This piece of animation to accompany Richard’s new piece was projected onto a large piece of gauze during the event. The animation combines illustrations of brain cells by early 20th century Spanish neuroscientist Ramon y Cajal with visualisations of the various ways we are conscious of music: musical notation, soundwaves, memories and visual impressions and also electroencephalographic (EEG) data recorded from the collaborators, when playing and listening to the specially composed music.
At the beginning of 20th century, the great Spanish neuroanatomist, Cajal, was establishing the new world of neuroscience. Vital to his work was visually recording the structure of the brain, and he created breathtakingly beautiful drawings of neurons.
At the same time, the Spanish guitar was enjoying its golden age, with Albeniz, Barrios, Tarrego, and Granados. Guitar virtuoso Richard Durrant will be playing some of the greats, and also a specially composed new piece for the ukulele and a kaoss pad.
The two apparently distant paths of human achievement, neuroscience and music, will be brought together by neuroscientist Dr Anil Seth. He’ll take those assembled on a mind-bending tour round the brain.
Here’s the team: including EEG assistant Becky Heaver, Neuroscientist Anil Seth and Musician Richard Durrant.
& here’s me covered in electrodes…
Not pictured are my two incredible animation assistants, digital maestro Laura Elmes and 2D wunderkind Emma Wakely: we’ve all been looking at a lot of neurons lately.
———————————————————————————
The event was covered by the BBC and the University of Sussex and reviewed in The Argus.
Looks amazing, Kate! Good luck with your project