The aim of this article is to present art & science projects involving electroencephalography (EEG), and study them in terms of relationships between artistic narratives and medical procedures. Discussed are the works by pioneers of EEG applications in art (David Rosenboom, Alvin Lucier) and by contemporary artists (Lisa Park, Amy Karle), who are mainly interested in performances and relational installations. The author of the text analyses the projects with reference to the concept she introduces – biomediation (derived from Eugene Thacker’s theory of biomedia and a concept of mediation developed by Joanna Zylinska and Sarah Kember), pointing to the post- and transhumanist strategies used by the artists. She ponders on the extent to which the parameterisation and processing of bioelectric work of human brain may serve as a tool to expand the capacity of the human body-mind and thus create connections with ‘non-human’ constructs.
However interesting, the knowledge about the biopsychological determinants of human creative activity is not well known in the general psychology. The paper aims to present that knowledge, including its historical progress. Therefore the results of both older psychophysiological studies, especially electroencephalographic, as well as newer, dealing with different methods of neuroimaging, and also the newest, conducted within the paradigm of behavioral genetics, were described. Showing empirical results is associated with the attempts to interpreting them; the reported interpretations are made by the original authors or are made by the author of the article. Explanations are mainly focused on the phenomenon of decreased cognitive inhibition, situational decreasing of the cortical arousal in the creative persons during the inspiration period and the integrative activity imposed by the prefrontal cortex. The paper is closed with two proposed theoretical syntheses (first by Eysenck, the second by Heilman) presented with the accompanying comparative commentary.
PL
Biopsychologiczne uwarunkowania twórczej aktywności człowieka to wiedza interesująca, acz mało znana na gruncie psychologii ogólnej. Celem artykułu jest przybliżenie jej, z ukazaniem historycznego rozwoju dziedziny. Omawiane są zatem tak wyniki dawniejszych badań psychofizjologicznych, głównie elektroencefalograficznych, jak i nowszych, prowadzonych różnymi metodami neuroobrazowania oraz najnowszych, realizowanych w paradygmacie genetyki zachowania. Przedstawieniu ważniejszych wyników towarzyszą próby ich interpretacji tak referowane za badaczami tematyki, jak i niekiedy własne. Interpretacje te koncentrują się przede wszystkim na zjawisku osłabionego hamowania poznawczego, sytuacyjnym obniżeniu pobudzenia korowego u osób twórczych w okresie inspiracji oraz integrującej aktywności kory przedczołowej. Artykuł zamykają dwie propozycje syntez teoretycznych (autorstwa Eysencka oraz Heilmana) wraz z porównującym je komentarzem.
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