A picture of the mind

Neuroaesthetics tries to understand how the brain transforms art into an experience of aesthetic properties of the world. Traditionally, neuroaesthetics has focused on still works of visual art such as paintings rather than dynamic events like dance. In this talk, Prof. Pollick will describe our recent research of how people’s descriptions of watching a dance relate to brain activity when viewing the same dance. These findings highlight the special role that the body can play in guiding the brain towards an aesthetic response.

Prof. Wyper is a physicist with 40 years of experience in the NHS. When he started, CT, MRI and PET were still being developed. This talk will guide you through the journey of discovery that he’s experienced. It will explain how the techniques work and what they can be used for. In particular he shall explore how imaging has impacted on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with brain tumours, head injury, stroke, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and depression. He shall also look at the contributions of UK scientists and engineers to developments in medical imaging.

Depression affects around 350 million people worldwide. Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is widely regarded as one of the most effective treatments for depression. But how can we tell in advance whether a patient will benefit from CBT before commencing treatment? Using a simple learning task and sophisticated brain imaging, Dr Queirazza will show how brain signals can help us predict the effect of treatment on individual patients.