The ELTE Faculty of Natural Sciences and the METU Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries have initiated an alternative all-arts science workshop, where natural sciences and visual arts are fused. This work is one of the ten scientific themes that were explored through the visual arts in students' collaborations.
The first ever electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded in 1929 by Hans Berger. The technology involved has gone through much development since, and the rapid advances in machine learning and bioinformatics likely marks another step of qualitative improvement in the analysis of EEGs.
The goal of electroencephalography is to measure and analyze the neural activity of the animal brain. Animal nervous tissue is known for its ability to transmit information at breakneck speeds, thanks to the relatively major difference of electrical potential and ion concentration between the volumes within and without the cell, also known as the resting potential. Restoring and maintaining this state consumes much of the caloric uptake of the human brain. The miniscule changes and shifts of electromagnetism are brought about by the rapid movement of charges through the membrane, from one volume to the other, while the signal flows through the winding axon of the cell. This is also known as action potential, the potential difference characteristic of neural activity.
These signals are largely identical across the population, however certain minor abnormalities can predict major neurophysiological differences. Epilepsy, schizophrenia, and several types of dementia have their own known distinctive markers, for example.
This piece of art was created based on an EEG of Réka Polena’s nervous functions, recorded at ELTE, during the Days of Brain Research in the spring of 2023. Three channels were recorded. For the musical component, each channel was sampled and converted into a set of frequencies. The resulting frequencies were shifted into the audible band and transponed into G minor, with some effects added for a more pleasant experience. This was jointly created.
The visual component is an artistic depiction of the sound, created by Réka Polena.
Réka Polena – student of media design, MA, METU
Bernát Kun – student of biology, MSc, ELTE
Spring, 2023
Autodesk Maya | MASH | Arnold render
PreSonus Studio One
