Reductionism in Art and Brain Science: Bridging the Two Cultures

I am a great admirer of Kandel's previous books, particularly his "In Search of Memory" and "The Age of Insight." Each of these is outstanding in clarity and precision of writing, as well as for their thought-provoking insights insights about the relation of science and art, particularly including psychology and culture. The present book is much briefer, and much narrower in scope, although not in aim. Specifically, Kandel examines our visual perception through the lenses of 20th Century abstract art and the underlying neurology/biology of "top-down" and bottom-up" brain function. His stated objective is to "bridge" the cultures of art and science by demonstrating their relation through a similar method ("Reductionism"), and more generally by showing how each helps us better understand and appreciate the other. Although his may be a first step only, this is an elegant short work, engaging and a pleasure to read and reflect upon. I have small criticisms, perhaps only personal, that I may as well share briefly. One of Kandel's great strengths is the clarity and precision of his writing, particularly in his explanation of science. Although his exposition of the relevant brain science in the present book exemplifies that strength, his discussion of the art occasionally lapses into the less helpful language of an exposition catalogue. I don't want to overstate this, as mostly he is attentive to explaining how an abstract work is constructed and how this may relate to how our brain processes form, line color and light. But perhaps his own perception and emotional appreciation of particular works occasionally overwhelms his commitment to precision of explanation. Maybe an example of the separate cultures that he is seeking to bridge! The other criticism (if it is that) is simply that some fascinating notions are introduced in the final chapters, especially in "Why Reductionism is Successful in Art," almost as a tease, without being much explored. I would very much enjoy a future Kandel book expanding on these ideas. But put these small complaints aside: Kandel makes a thoughtful, stimulating argument for the importance of integrating our understanding of art and brain science as a means of better understanding and appreciating both. And he does this in a nicely written, beautifully printed and illustrated volume that is (not incidentally) artistic in itself. My only admonition is that, if you enjoy this book, by all means read Kandel's earlier work, especially his fine "The Age of Insight" --- which I personally think makes the case for the intimate relation of art and science even better than the present book.

I do not know how this concise, clearly written, well-illustrated synopsis of the relationships of psycho-neurobiology and art appreciation will be received by the general reader. I regard this as an important book, but then I am a medical scientist and an artist already familiar with the experimental and historical evidence of the two associated disciplines. The 20th century saw a new approach to art and mental science, both applying narrow, minimalistic, reduced approaches to grasp the marrow of the larger processes. (Not covered is the Far East Asian form of art whose ink paintings have been for centuries simplistic with sparse lines and broad spaces that the viewer connects and fills in to construct familiar forms.) The primary focus is on how we see, how photon arrays falling on our retina are deconstructed, channeled, analyzed by element and position or orientation, and then associated through memory with learned forms, and how learning requires new synapses and stimulated molecular responsive pathways. Modern art has been an exploration in parallel with neuroscience. Cubism with its combined perspectives and discontinuity, abstract geometric paintings of simple, inherently or acquired emotional colors and color juxtapositions and line paths, and complex arrays of indefinite forms suggestive of texture or movement challenge the viewer, probing deep into the senses and perception. Metaphor was replaced with direct expression; and one artist, Mondrian, had mystical intentions in his later paintings while another, Rothko, whose works many regard as spiritual, had no such objective. Author, Nobel Prize-winner, Eric R. Kandel, whom some viewers of PBS and Charlie Rose know through his series of roundtables on the brain, is mainly a philosophical physicalist, but he does include the feedback looping of bottom-up, emergent reductionism and top-down, organismal holism of learned and experiential associations. Indeed, much of modern art is a mutually dependent creative union of form and receiver, i.e, not what the art is about, but instead what the viewer feels, imagines, or thinks. The book presents seminal examples of artistic insights. Artists, such as Mondrian, Klee, and Kandinsky, wrote essays about the psychological effect of certain artistic techniques and presentations, and Kandel explains the neuroscience behind it. Color fields present a psycho-neurological problem, as people perceive a given color differently, dependent on distance; lighting intensity, hue, and angle; contrast; adjacent hues; and in the instance of color-blindness, neurology. Some artists create optical illusions and stimulate optic centers, with the viewer perceiving shapes, hues, contours, and elevations that are not actually present, further questioning our reality. Other artists take mundane items or icons and craft their forms or images into a different way of seeing, as in Pop Art, bringing sociological and socio-political aspects into fine focus. I hope that this small book finds its way into science and art curricula, interdisciplinary studies, and into the hands of the general reader.

I enjoyed the book and learned a few things about the working of the human brain. The art part would probably benefit by in-depth analysis of the works that were included, the artists and some art history related to the art work.

Here, I summarize my thoughts on three books by Eric Kandel: The Disordered Mind, In Search of Memory, and Reductionism in Art and Brain Science: Bridging the Two Cultures. Eric Kandel is a great American scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize. Interestingly, he started his career as a humanities major at Harvard, and he writes very much in that tradition. The books cover various topics, including psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, the molecular basis of memory, and the relationship between the subconscious and art, and incorporate his recollections of his life journey and world history, particularly related to Vienna. While the books focus on different things, they all look at different aspects of the same subject, like taking different views of one elephant. When discussing psychiatric diseases, I like how Dr. Kandel described the root causes and history of schizophrenia and autism. These diseases trace much of their early history to Vienna and some famous early brain scientists there, such as Kraepelin and Asperger. Within the topic of memory, I liked Dr. Kandel's reflection on how memory is stored in synapses from inhibitory and excitatory neurons, and, in parallel fashion, these synaptic memories turn into molecular events and gene expression through activating and repressing transcription factors of the CREB family. Kandel also talks about his own memories. It was striking how Vienna was such a center of scholarship in the early 20th century and so quickly fell into tragedy with the advent of the Nazis and has changed dramatically since then. Finally, I enjoyed reading about Dr. Kandel's relationship between the subconscious and art. He talked about how many recent artists have tried to move beyond the conscious representation of the figure and harness their subconscious and how abstract art can play into our deep mental processes, such as face recognition. Overall, I found these books very interesting reads that give an encompassing picture of both the mind and a great person.

I am a professional psychologist and I thought I appreciated art. This book taught me much about the psychological aspects of art appreciation and HOW to understand and appreciate abstract art. My entire frame of understanding has evolved in a wonderful way. I enjoy and appreciate art that I never previously did.

As a general reader without a formal background in either brain science or visual art, I learned a great deal about both subjects, and how they relate to each other. The book is clearly and concisely written, and beautifully illustrated. On the other hand, I found that two shortcomings limited the book's impact. First of all, Kandel often alternates between research-based discussion of brain structure and function, and subjective statements about the experience and meaning of individual artworks or genres of art. These statements originate from professional critics as well as, apparently, Kandel's personal perspectives or his perception of the mainstream opinion of art aficionados. While Kandel also cites some research on how the brain perceives art, his failure to address the different types of interspersed statements damages the credibility of his arguments. Secondly, the book presents reductionism in brain science as a focus on specific cells, processes, regions, or pathways in order to produce a precise, convincing and reproducible result, but presents reductionism in visual art as a focus on elements such as line, form, and color in order to free viewers to create their own interpretations. These eponymous methods, while somewhat similar in concept, differ in intent, method, and result. The book is well worth reading, though, for the education it provides the general reader, even as it falls short of providing a substantial version of the analogy implied in its title.

A special book about the connection between science of mind and art, particularly modern painting. The author is a famous expert of neurology questions and he explicates to the lector how the interpretation about the better painters of 1900 is correlated to the achieving of new informations. Those painters have had their approach reading in their works particularities of the universe, whom they have seen in a way between subjective and objective. So the perception has moved the inner connection of the mind and the student of art has correlated with the memory all that he learned.

For whatever reason I think a lot about what I like and don't like and why - what is quality - is it wiring or environment ... I was familiar with most of the art works the book used for examples and it gave me a new perspective on my reactions and an alternative way of thinking about viewing art works - that art works, rather than static objects to "look" at, generate individual personal experiences in your brain. The book was well written and I liked it.

The 21st century is the age of biology especially that of neuroscience. This title explains how biology connects us with an understanding of brain, mind, emotion and memory and helps us with insights of art and artists.

Eric Handel ist einer der herausragenden Hirnforscher unserer Zeit. Für interessierte Laien und Profis ebenfalls sehr zu empfehlen: 'Auf der Suche nach dem Gedächtnis' und 'Das Zeitalter der Erkenntnis'. Ein kleiner Wermutstropfen: das Buch ist dreckig und etwas ramponiert. Ich habe trotzdem von der Rücksendung abgesehen - wer weiß, ob das nächste Mal ein besseres geliefert wird?!

Book came in great quality fairly quickly.

Para tratarse de todo un Premio Nobel, el libro deja bastante que desear en cuanto a documentación sobre los mecanismos perceptivos a todos los niveles. Para empezar, la percepción, en general, no puede entenderse exclusivamente en el nivel fisiológico, porque algunos de sus principios emergen cuando el sistema funciona como un todo ante ciertas propiedades del estímulo; es decir, casi son más propiedades del estímulo que el sistema se limita a plegarse a ellas. Por otra parte, hay en la percepción del arte aspectos culturales (estéticos) que no pueden dejarse fuera sin mutilar hasta el ridículo la argumentación. Por eso, el autor tiene la habilidad de introducir "reductionism" en su título para excusar lo que no es más que un cúmulo de lagunas de conocimiento. Hay libros y artículos mucho mejores que este sobre percepción del arte. Como ejemplo el libro de Gombrich sobre arte e ilusiones perceptivas. Le he dado una estrella más por las ilustraciones, que son muy buenas. Supongo que algunos permisos de reproducción solo pueden conseguirse si eres premio nobel. Un premio nobel vende bien cualquier cosa y Kandel parece saberlo bien.

I was so pleased with this book, it is in good condition and arrived on time. I would happily deal with this seller again.