Jill Bolte Taylor My Stroke of Insight

If you have not seen this TED video before, then take a look, or just watch again as a reminder of the magic of science and art. I was reminded of this video by a new local acquaintance Ellen Stiefler who is in the process of making a movie of the life of Jill Bolte Taylor.

The Third Act

This video was sent by Linda Nimmerrichter and no matter what you may think of Jane Fonda we can all certainly agree she is a surviver. Exploring the last 30 years of a life is an exciting opportunity for many of us.

Cymatics: the study of sound forming patterns

I became fascinated by cymatics when I found some books that showed how sound can organize matter into patterns. Since ancient times, sound has been used to stimulate healing in body, mind and soul. Pythagoras, the sixth-century B.C. Greek philosopher, is credited with being the first to use music to heal the body and the emotions. The eighteenth-century German scientist and musician Ernst Chladni, known as the father of acoustics, showed that sound does affect matter. When he drew a violin bow around the edge of a plate covered with fine sand, the sand formed intricate geometric patterns.

These patterns resemble what is seen in our world: the rings of a tree, the patterns on a turtles back, the shape of a starfish, and much more. This is intriguing, this relationship between the world of sound of vibration, and the form it imprints as it organizes matter.

Here's a link to an article I wrote when I saw similarities between my own art and sound patterns: http://www.holistichealingnews.com/?p=8475

And a website of a friend in the UK: www.cymascope.com

Hope you enjoy pondering this connection.

SenseCam Video Diary Aid for Memory

This amazing little camera that you wear and take pictures automatically of your day is improving the lives of patience with memory lost. I first read about this in a New Yorker article about Gordan Bell in 2007 and now it is available. By watching the photo record, people are able to remember what happened to them. It must have something to do with seeing the images again that cements it in the brain.

Originally a Microsoft Research project designed to help those with Alzheimer’s disease, the small camera created by researchers at the Cambridge Lab is worn on a lanyard around the neck and takes photos whenever movement is spotted or a person approaches.

A company called Vicon had licensed the production rights from Microsoft in order to launch the camera as the “Vicon Revue.” And now it’s available for purchase.

According the product’s website, the Revue contains a color VGA resolution sensor (640 x 480 pixels), temperature sensor, light color and intensity sensor, passive infra-red motion detector, multi-axis accelerometer, 3-axis magnetometer (compass), battery and flash memory. And it’s fitted with a fish-eye lens to provide a full 130 degree field of view.Also, the battery lasts for 24 hours between charges, the website claims. It can hold a shocking number of images – around 30,000 or 6 days worth of capture.

Here is a little video about the Sensecam and then a video movie of activities by someone reviewing the system.

Puzzles of the Brain

Puzzles of the Brain: An Artist's Journey through Amnesia

The Walters is partnering with the Cognitive Science Department of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Science at The Johns Hopkins University to present a focus show of approximately 25 works exploring the impact of severe brain damage on the life and creativity of an artist. The show will tell the story of Lonni Sue Johnson, a successful artist who drew for The New Yorker. She suffered severe amnesia resulting from an attack of encephalitis in late 2007. The illness caused substantial brain damage, resulting in the complete loss of artistic productivity. Through intensive art therapy led by her mother Margaret Kennard Johnson (also an accomplished artist), Johnson began to produce a portfolio of “recovery art.” Her art provides unique insight into the devastating effects of amnesia, as well as the complementary roles played by language and memory in her artistic expression. Johnson's case gives researchers a rare opportunity to contribute to the scientific understanding of brain function and art, and to apply that understanding to an appreciation of the synergies between art and science.

Puzzles of the Brain: An Artist's Journey through Amnesia has been organized by the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland in partnership with the Cognitive Science Department of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University. The exhibition received generous support from The Johns Hopkins University Brain Science Institute, and the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.