Here are some interesting neuroscience and art links from around the web:
Brief meditative exercise helps cognition: Some of us need regular amounts of coffee or other chemical enhancers to make us cognitively sharper. A newly published study suggests perhaps a brief bit of meditation would prepare us just as well.
Mouse brains wired for empathy?: A study in the current issue of Nature Neuroscience reports that mice can be fear conditioned through observation of other mice receiving aversive stimuli and identifies some of the brain regions involved in this observational fear learning.
Synthetic aesthetics: art inspired by the natural world: Synthetic biology is the application of engineering principles to biology – living matter has become a new material for engineering, a new technology for design and construction.
Word, mind, city: Ed Kerns and Elizabeth Chapman create art that is inspired by the layered nature of our inner landscapes.
What is art therapy?: An essay by Noah Hass-Cohen describes the techniques and uses for art therapy. Hass-Cohen is core faculty and Art Therapy Program Director at Phillips Graduate Institute. She maintains a private art therapy practice at the Los Angeles Institute for Art Therapy where she provides client services, supervision and consultation.
Mark Changizi on how he’d put art and brain together: A terrific blog post by cognitive scientist Mark Changizi (interviewed on last month’s podcast) about fusing the arts and the sciences, and a bit of a preview of his upcoming book, Harnessed.