NBB Summer Program in Paris

By Duke McDaniels

The art contained within the Pantheon was, to me, probably the most exciting part of the visit. Having already spent time with dead people at the start of our trip, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the main floor of the historic building was filled with art of varying levels of ambition and scale. While I obviously knew that crypts are typically underground and therefore the one we had discussed within the building was unlikely to be located right at the front door, I didn’t expect the rest of the building to be quite as well-furnished with interesting things to look at. The massive columns supporting the structure were adorned with intricately-carved stonework, the large, echoing chambers themselves had sculptures and art exhibitions of varying sizes on display, and the stone walls of the interior were covered almost end-to-end with beautifully-painted murals.

While the sculpture and display works were certainly interesting, it was the murals that caught my eye the most. They were painted in a clearly medieval style, with chaotic scenes made even more interesting to look at due to the practically trademarked uncanny valley facial expressions associated with the style. Many of the scenes depicted were so rife with visual metaphors and symbolism that they practically felt like fever dreams. These almost psychedelic images reminded me of the various types of creative works that would come out of people under the influence of psychoactive substances, with the paintings and sketches they produce often mirroring these chaotic and fantastical elements.

In my research to find out more about these types of experiments, I stumbled across a particularly fascinating article which took a different approach. As we all know, neural networks meant to emulate the neurobiological processes of thinking are being adopted by many computing programs so they can adapt to new information like our own brains. If this is possible,  it might be possible of a brain experiencing altered consciousness. This is exactly what Schartner & Timmermann did in their 2020 study to produce a neural model of a brain under the influence of hallucinogenic drug DMT. The model produced could make images with similar distortions to those humans experience under the drug’s influence (Schartner & Timmermann, 2020). Although no one can prove that the artists who made these pieces of medieval art were high as they did so, as technology advances and I see more images like these, my theories inch ever closer to saying “yes, they were.”

Schartner, M. M., & Timmermann, C. (2020). Neural network models for DMT-induced visual hallucinations. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2020(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/nc/niaa024

I have been absolutely obsessed with the Smurfs ever since I stepped foot in the gift shop of the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, Michigan (a true diamond of the state of Michigan that holds a special place in my heart). I started a collection of Smurfs figurines when I was 10 years old that I still have adorning my apartment back in Atlanta. And don’t get me started on the Smurfs Village iPhone game… The nostalgia I feel toward the Smurfs is a reminder of yearly visits to my dad’s home town and a general feeling of appreciation toward the Midwest that I have only been able to access since moving to the south for college. Due to my deep connection to the Smurfs, I was overjoyed when I saw a collection of clay Smurf figures in the Musée des Arts et Métiers on a class excursion. They were a reminder of home at the midpoint of my time living in Paris. They also made me think about the neuroscience of nostalgia, and what purpose it might serve.

In a study by Jiang et al. in 2021, it was shown that nostalgia is a positive way to reflect on one’s past that increases optimism and reduces bitterness. This relationship was seen in both British and Chinese participants, providing evidence that nostalgia may work similarly across cultures. Entering senior year of college, I have definitely been doing some reflecting on my 3 years at Emory as well as experiences in my childhood that have shaped me into who I am today. It has always been important to me to hold onto relics of childhood, like the Smurfs, that incorporate childlike wonder and whimsy into my everyday life as I continue to learn and grow.

While it is easy to get in a rut of being nervous and a little bit scared about the future, keeping a sense of nostalgia has actually helped me to not get stuck in the past. From my current vantage point, being able to look back on both positive and negative moments in my life and see how they shifted my path is something that I value and appreciate. I think that many people in this program might relate to the feeling of not being completely sure what they want to do next. The uncertainty can be crippling, but it is also a unique experience where the options for next steps are endless. Thinking back on the reflecting I was doing at this point in my high school career 4 years ago, I also know that while I may not fully understand what is happening in my life right now, I will one day be able to look back on this time in the same way I think about the Smurfs at the Bavarian Inn (seriously, if you ever find yourself in the middle of Michigan you have to try the Frankenmuth chicken).

I didn’t think I would be reflecting on my time in Paris by likening it to Frankenmuth, but I look forward to reminiscing on all that I have learned here for years to come.

References:

Jiang, T., Cheung, W. Y., Wildschut, T., & Sedikides, C. (2021). Nostalgia, reflection, brooding: Psychological benefits and autobiographical memory functions. Consciousness and cognition, 90, 103107.

This disturbing, yet fascinating picture was taken during our class visit to the Fragonard Museum. Honore Fragonard was a French anatomist who conducted experiments that pushed ethical boundaries such as dissecting real humans and displaying them in unique action poses. From a neuroscience perspective, it was incredible to see the diffusion of veins and arteries across the body, intertwined with the delicate nerves running through the skull and down the arms. Interestingly, Fragonard also injected the veins with blue dye and the arteries with red dye, potentially also paving the way for how these organs are universally depicted in textbooks and in the classroom.     

Our trip to the Pantheon was nothing short of breathtaking. The once church is now a civic building dedicated to honoring the lives of some of the greatest French citizens. One of these French greats is Marie Curie. She was a pioneering chemist who discovered the element Radium with her husband. This experience related to our NBB 402W class as her contributions have paved the way for many commonly used cancer therapeutics – such as radiotherapy for glioblastomas (Mann et al., 2018) as well as neuroimaging techniques that use radiation (sMRI, fMRI, etc.). 

The Sacré-Cœur has always been one of my favorite places in Paris. The views from the steps, the immaculate architecture, and the walk through Montmartre to reach the church are breathtaking every time. So, after walking through the streets below the church and

browsing various fromageries, bakeries, and other food shops, I put my picnic supplies in a backpack and walked up the seemingly endless stairs to the basilica. 

Once I finally reached the top of the steps, I was greeted with the most incredible view out over the city. Sitting on the steps of the basilica eating my assortment of Parisian snacks and drinking my new favorite wine (a French Chablis), I was truly amazed by the size and beauty of Paris. 

Though I didn’t venture into the basilica on this visit, I’ve been in before. Walking around the grounds and looking at the intricate gargoyles and arching doorways, I was once again impressed with the architecture and attention to detail that had so clearly gone into the building. 

After my visit, I began to be curious about the relationship between experiences like mine and neuroscience. As someone who would characterize themselves as loosely religious, I wondered about the neural basis of religion and religious belief. After all, religion and

spirituality, regardless of form, is something observed all over the world in the grand majority of cultures. 

After some searching on PubMed, I found a collection of articles discussing the neural correlates of religion and spirituality (R/S). The article I felt most drawn to was a review article of many of these prior studies which discussed not only prior work and findings but also the implications of these findings. Specifically, the article concluded that the medial frontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and several other regions were particularly implicated in R/S beliefs and practice. The authors then postulated that these brain regions could lead to further effects on “mood, anxiety, psychotic, pain, and vertiginous disorders” (Rim et al, 2019). These findings, which were consistent across a variety of religions including Christianity and Buddhism, pose essential considerations for future research in this field. As religion is such a hot-button topic in our world today, understanding the way that it is based in peoples’ brains is vital and fascinating. 

I honestly couldn’t tell you to what extent my frontal lobe was activated during my visit to

the Sacré-Cœur, I can tell you that the experience was breathtaking. I definitely think that the ability to experience and read about something that felt so much larger than myself was fascinating, and it is something I’ll continue to consider going forward. 

References:

Rim, J. I., Ojeda, J. C., Svob, C., Kayser, J., Drews, E., Kim, Y., Tenke, C. E., Skipper, J., & Weissman, M. M. (2019). Current Understanding of Religion, Spirituality, and Their Neurobiological Correlates. Harvard review of psychiatry, 27(5), 303–316. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000232

Earlier this week, our class took a trip to Musee de l‘Homme – an anthropological museum established in 1937. The walls leading up to the museum were decorated in brightly lit LED signs that said the word “Hello” in various different languages. It was the perfect welcome to what was going to be an afternoon filled with fun facts on the evolution of the human species.

Early in the exhibit I discovered a glass case filled with the brains of different animal species such as rodents, rhesus macaques, humans, and even elephants. The brains were suspended in a hydrating solution to ensure that they did not decay. At Emory, I work in a neuroimaging lab that studies the neurostructural development of rhesus macaques brains subject to obesogenic diets and social subordination stress. Hence, it was so interesting to finally be able to see a live visual of the macaque brain, one which I have been viewing on a screen for so long. What struck me the most, however, was the drastic size difference between the human brain and the macaque brain. Since the rhesus macaque is such a common model organism for “stress on the brain” studies and is praised for its high translational value to human brains, I expected the brain size to be more similar to that of humans. However, it was surprisingly only one-third the size of a human brain. Nevertheless, numerous findings from macaque research have proven to be immensely valuable in the development of clinical treatments for humans suffering from depression, anxiety, and even mobile disabilities (e.g. the development of neuroprosthetics). One such study demonstrated that stimulation electrodes in the somatosensory cortex and recording electrodes in the anterior intraparietal area (AIP) of a male macaque can lead to tactile sensation to a NHP (Klaes et al., 2015). Such types of studies continue to revolutionize brain-machine-interface (BMI) technologies. 

Towards the end of the exhibit, there was a section on the evolution of sneakers. As an outspoken tennis geek, I was enchanted by the display of the shoes Serena Williams wore when she won the 2002 French Open. This section was incredibly interesting as it demonstrated how cultural changes led to the evolution of various sneakers types. I have been to a sneaker museum in the US; however, this one better explained the impact of culture on sneaker evolution.

Ultimately, this trip was very eye opening for me from a neuroscience research perspective and motivated me to one day come back in the future. 

References: 

Klaes, C., Shi, Y., Kellis, S., Minxha, J., Revechkis, B., & Andersen, R. A. (2014). A cognitive neuroprosthetic that uses cortical stimulation for somatosensory feedback. Journal of Neural Engineering, 11(5), 056024. https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2560/11/5/056024