Neuropsychology of Art Neurological, Cognitive and Evolutionary Perspectives Brain, Behaviour and Cognition Series

The significance of art in human existence has long been a source of puzzlement, fascination, and mystery. In Neuropsychology of Art, Dahlia W. Zaidel explores the brain regions and neuronal systems that support artistic creativity, talent, and appreciation.
Both the visual and musical arts are discussed against a neurological background. Evidence from the latest relevant brain research is presented and critically examined in an attempt to clarify the brain-art relationship, language processing and visuo-spatial perception. The consequences of perceptual problems in famous artists, along with data from autistic savants and established artists with brain damage as a result of unilateral stroke, dementia, or other neurological conditions, are brought into consideration and the effects of damage to specific regions of the brain explored. A major compilation of rare cases of artists with brain damage is provided and the cognitive abilities required for the neuropsychology of art reviewed.
This book draws on interdisciplinary principles from the biology of art, brain evolution, anthropology, and the cinema through to the question of beauty, language, perception, and hemispheric specialization. It will be of interest to advanced students in neuro-psychology, neuroscience and neurology, to clinicians and all researchers and scholars interested in the workings of the human brain.

Approaches to the Neuropsychology of Art. The Effects of Brain Damage in Established Visual Artists. The Eye and Brain in Artist and Viewer: Alterations in Vision and Color Perception. Special Visual Artists: The Effects of Autism and Slow Brain Atrophy. Musical Art and Brain Damage: I. Established Composers. Musical Art and Brain Damage. II. Performing and Listening to Music. Artists and Viewers: Components of Perception and Cognition in Visual Art. Neuropsychological Considerations of Drawing and Seeing Pictures. Beauty, Pleasure, and Emotions: Reactions to Art Works. Human Brain Evolution, Biology and the Early Emergence of Art. Further Considerations in the Neuropsychology of Art. Conclusion and the Future of the Neuropsychology of Art.

Dahlia Zaidel is Adjunct Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Member of the Brain Research Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles.