Synapses

A tribute to Ramon y Cahal

It is suggested that the practice of neurographic drawing increases brain’s synaptic activity, neuronal connections and ‘regenerative’ processes (although there is no a single trace of scientific evidence for this contention). Nevertheless, it is not far fetched to think that it could contribute to a wellbeing and might be used as a tool to support brain activity/recovery from a disease or injury.

In many ways, it triggers scientific and artistic contemplation about connections within our brain (synapses) and those with outside world.

Synapses are points of connection and communications among neurons. At a synapse, one neuron sends a message to a target neuron – another cell.

The human brain contains about 100 billion neurons, each has thousands of synapses. There are more than 125 trillion synapses just in the cerebral cortex alone -that’s roughly equal to the number of stars in 1,500 Milky Way galaxies…

Synapses form and disappear, plastic and agile, to record the world around us and to store our memories.

The word ‘synapse’ has come to mean much more than the purely anatomical structure that links our neurons into a functioning and beautiful brain. The ‘synapse’ is a synonym for connection – and no wonder – it is the master conductor of all our connections !

The connections in our brain have been represented in amazing detail in scientific and artistic drawings of Ramon y Cajal.

The following series of neurographic drawings and paintings are a small tribute to the legacy of Ramon y Cahal. It explores all overt and sublime meanings of the synapse (even that of artificial intelligence) through the means of artistic commentary. 

It thus explores the synaptic activity of the art itself.

Synapses