DNN 5: Neuroscience, Art & Creativity | Leslee Lazar Deep Neural Notebooks

In this episode, I interview Leslee Lazar, a cognitive neuroscientist and visual artist. He is a professor at IIT Gandhinagar, at the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Science, working on processing of tactile perception in the somatosensory cortex of the brain. He is passionate about art and design, and uses illustrations, graphic design, infographics, collages and photography to convey complex stories. Neuroscientist by day, visual artist by evening, his research interests include understanding creativity and perception of art from a Neuroscience point of view. He has some amazing artworks, illustrations and posters that I'd recommend you to check out on his Instagram and Tumblr accounts, links to which can be found below.  

In this episode, we talk about his journey - from Zoology to Neuroscience, his work on touch perception, about creativity, and about how we as humans share an innate appreciation for art and beauty. On the intersection of Computer Science and Neuroscience, I asked him about brain computer interfaces, like the ones being developed at Neuralink, and his thoughts on possibility of being able to model a digital brain one day.   In the end, he shares some advice for people taking interest in Neuroscience and a list of books people can refer to, to get started.  

This video was recorded before the lockdown in India.  

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List of Top Neuroscience books for people starting out: 


Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Science by Paul Thagard 
The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge 
Descartes' ErrorBook by Antonio Damasio - The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks 
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by Sandra Blakeslee and V. S. Ramachandran 
Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain by Mark F. Bear, Barry W. Connors & Michael A. Paradiso  

Links:  

Leslee Lazar -  

Website: https://lesleelazar.com 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leslee_lazar 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/dull_eye_llama 

Tumblr: https://lesleelazar.tumblr.com  

Centre for Cognitive and Brain Science: https://cogs.iitgn.ac.in  

Nature article on COVID-19: https://nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9?fbclid=IwAR2xZouI4JVsZdFbIqLixXC-XC8mxMCQ_Inw2znKGcgrdeUW6kVzZQB_VVs  


Podcast links -  

Youtube: https://youtu.be/X2V5z6J6J1o 

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2V22kZO

Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3aItP1o

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4TuU8kZBCM2KWevHBAbpNj 

Anchor: https://anchor.fm/deep-neural-notebooks/episodes/DNN-5-Neuroscience--Art-and-Creativity--Leslee-Lazar-ecaqoc



Connect:  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkulkhanna 

Website: https://mukulkhanna.co 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mukulkhanna/