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Art of the Brain - Neuroplasticity and Hallucinogenic Designs

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to establish whether the neuroscientific principle of neuroplasticity aids in the understanding of Tukano hallucinatory art. The underlying proposition is that hallucinatory art allows more direct access to the workings of the brain than other art and therefore a neuroscientific principle could potentially aid our understanding in this area where art and biology overlap. In examining the link between hallucinations, hallucinatory art and neuroplasticity, the reciprocal affects of cultural and neurology is a central concern. A multi-disciplinary approach is adopted incorporating aspects of art history, neuroscience and anthropology. The dissertation starts by providing a detailed case study of the explicitly hallucinatory art of the Amazonian Tukano, which draws on the work of Reichel-Dolmatoff, and explores the links between cultural context, ayahuasca-induced hallucinations and art. The theoretical framework is then established, and the recent application of neuroscience to art, specifically the principle of neuroplasticity and its possible affects on druginduced hallucinations is examined. The dissertation culminates in the application of neuroplasticity to the Tukano designs, before reaching tentative conclusions on the relationship between this neuroscientific principle and the Tukano imagery derived from ayahuasca induced hallucinations, between art and the brain.