Neuroscience and Cinema: Locating New Sense of Understanding Cinema

1. Neuroscience and Cinema: Locating New Sense of Understanding
Cinema
DR K PRADEEP M.SC., PHD.,
DEPT. OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION NEHRU
ARTS AND COLLEGE, COIMBATORE
DATE 04/06/2021
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2. Introduction
 Cinema is one of the very powerful and influence medium in our society. It creates a
massive impact on people all over the world. Some could be made us cry, enjoy,
entertained, educate and also rejuvenating the mind of a person.
 Cinema takes viewers through an experience that evolves over time, grabbing their
attention and triggering a sequence of perceptual, cognitive, and emotional processes.
Throughout the years filmmakers have developed an arsenal of cinematic devices (e.g.,
montage, continuity editing, close-up) to direct viewers’ minds during movie watching.
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3. Intro…
 According to Jean-Luc Godard, cinema is a multidimensional art using different complicated
stimuli such as music, sound, and picture. In addition to the mentioned stimuli, film editing has a
significant role as it integrates numerous pictures and sounds to provide a consistent structure.
 “Movies are highly complex, multidimensional stimuli,” said Uri Hasson a neuroscientist, states
that during the cinema experience different area of brain active “Some areas of the brain analyze
sound bites, some analyze word context, some the sentence content, music, emotional aspect,
color or motion.”
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4. What is Neuroscience….? 4

5. What is Neuroscience….?
 Neuroscience, also known as Neural Science, is the study of how the nervous system develops, its
structure, and what it does.
 Neuroscientists focus on the brain and its impact on behaviour and cognitive functions. Not only is
neuroscience concerned with the normal functioning of the nervous system, but also what happens to
the nervous system when people have neurological, psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.
 Neuroscience has traditionally been classed as a subdivision of biology. These days, it is an
interdisciplinary science which liaises closely with other disciplines, such as mathematics,
linguistics, engineering, computer science, chemistry, philosophy, psychology, and medicine.
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6. Neuroscience and Relative Studies
 Cultural neuroscience – looks at how beliefs, practices and cultural values are shaped by and shape
the brain, minds and genes over different periods.
 Neurolinguistics – studying what neural mechanisms in the brain control the acquisition,
comprehension and utterance of language.
 Neuroeconomics is a new and emerging approach in the social sciences that integrates theories,
methodologies, and ideas from neuroscience, economics, and psychology to study how individuals
make economic decisions.
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7. Neurocinema….?
 Neurocinema or neurocinematics is how watching movies, or particular scenes from
movies affect our brain and the response the human brain gives to any given movie or
scene.
 Neurocinematics is a term coined by Uri Hasson at Princeton University, who was
among the first to investigate how the brain responds to movies using an fMRI brain
scanner.
 Neurofilmology- Neurofilmology is a research program that arises at the encounter
between two models of viewer: the viewer as mind(deriving from a cognitive/ analytical
approach) and viewer as body (typical of the phenomenological/ continental approach).
 Neuroaesthetics, is a new scientific discipline whose object is to identify and understand
the neural process-es involved in human art behaviour- those processes that underlie both
the construction and experience of art (Skov and Vertanian; 2012).
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8. Brain influence cinema…
 Visual cortex in Occipital lobe. Responsible for interpreting visual info from viewing
the screen.
 Wernike's Area and most of the Superior Temporal gyrus (Primary auditory cortex).
 Hypothalamus, Thalamus, Parietal lobe.
 Limbic system, Temporal sulcus, Temporal partial junction, Intra partial Sulcus
 Ventral premotor Cortex, Inferior parietal lob
 Action performed by other-
 Three main area of the cortex- a)Superior temporal sulcus, b) Inferior parietal lob,
c)Inferior frontal gyrus ctc.
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9. METHODS OF UNDERSTANDING CINEMA
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10. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) offer an opportunity to
measure brain activity during free viewing of films.
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11. Inter Subject Correlation ISC… 11

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13. Electroencephalography (EEG) electrophysiological monitoring
method
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14. Filmmaker
 There are Neuromarketing companies already brain test movie trailers for the
major studios through fMRI, EEG, galvanic skin response, eye-tracking and
other biometric approaches. For now, the test data helps the studios and
distributors better market the movie.
 Oscar-winning producer after accepting the trophy for Best Picture: “I’d like to
thank my neuroscience partners who helped us enhance the film’s script,
characters, and scenes.”
 Oscar-decorated director James Cameron had told Variety magazine during the
making of the epic hit Avatar that “a functional-MRI study of brain activity
would show that more neurons are actively engaged in processing a 3-D movie
than the same film seen in 2-D.”
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15. Relation of Cinema and Brain
 Within film studies, the influence of cognitive film theory gained ground through
the past decade, especially in relation to the social constructionist paradigm
emphasizing psychoanalytical and cultural analytical model.
 The film theoretician, David Bordwell question through his book on “In
Narration in the fiction film from 1985” how one could explain the cinematic
experience and its narrative structure without brain relation (Bordwell; 1985).
These sound argument made great impact among the film study paradigms and
new discoveries in the film fraternity.
 In a pragmatic sense, two major research findings–– along with technological
advancements––constitute the primary influence within the field of film studies:
the discovery of mirror neurons, and Antonio Damasio’s research on emotions.
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16. Beauty, ugly in the brain…
A hero chasing a cri
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19. Focused and scattered experience.. 19

20. Context for Cinema Studies… 20

21. Mirror neurons….
 One of the most exciting discoveries in recent neuroscience is the
identification of mirror neurons, unique brain cells that fire identically
whether one is engaging in an activity or watching someone else do so.
 The neurons are seen in the premotor cortex, the supplementary
motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex, and the inferior
parietal cortex.
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22. Mirror neurons 22

23. Embodied Simulation
ES has been proposed to constitute a basic functional mechanism of humans’
brain, by means of which actions, emotions and sensations of others are
mapped onto the observer’s own sensory-motor and viscero-motor neural
representations.
According to ES theory our brain-body system re-uses part of its neural
resources to map others’ behavior. When witnessing actions performed by
others, we simulate them by activating our own motor system.
Embodied Simulation… It is our body that is at the movies, our body in the
complete sense of the word. With its motor sensorial reaction.
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24. Mirror in the mind
 The Mirror in the mind is close association and its relative sense of understanding
in neuroscience and cinema, while experiencing film most of the narrative
meaning is happened by the spectator’s speculative context. ….
 A flower offer by lover
 A person move to stab another person
 A vehicle move to hit…
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25. Neuroesthetics
 It is a study of art by Neuroscientist
 The most prominent scientist are V. S
Ramachandran, and Semir Zeki.
 Ramachandran’s nine principle of Neuroaesthetics
 Peak Shift, Contrast, Grouping, Isolation, Peekaboo,
Orderlines,Symetry,Metaphore, Abhorrence of
Coincidence.
 Film- Bhahubali….
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26. The Law of peak shift 26

27. Thank You 27

28. Dr K Pradeep, M.Sc. PhD.,
Assistant Professor , Department of Visual Communication
Nehru Arts and Science College, Coimbatorte, Tamilnadu, India.
cpradeepklee@gmail.com
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