Dysfunction, neuroplasticity, and the brain: An artist's personal experience

Abstract

This state is experienced holistically, however chemically, the physical catalyst that is triggered within the brain. Many studies of the brain show differences in brain functionality when an individual is experiencing an altered state of consciousness (Begley, 2004, 1B).The brain, with its 86 billion neurons (Herculano-Houzel, 2012), is a highly complex organism with remarkable and measurable healing capabilities. Every person's brain develops unique functionality due to the fluid nature of the healing process referred to as neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is defined as "the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience or following injury" (Oxford Reference). It is a process that naturally occurs over the course of someone's life, which causes adaptation in unique ways.The term altered states of consciousness represents a state of being that is not typical to the waking state of the brain. Physical, spiritual, and mystical experiences of higher consciousness can be triggered naturally through methods such as meditation, hypnosis, or prayer; it can be achieved chemically as well through use of psychedelic drugs.Through neuroplasticity, the brain will carve out new neural pathways when a skill or experience is newly acquired. Training the brain into achieving a higher level of consciousness will likely become easier through repeated experience and personal practice. A practice can be developed through natural means like meditation, such as with Buddhist Monks (Begley, 2004, 1B), and culminate in an increased familiarity with one's own neurology. Through neuroplasticity, the brain will adapt to these new pathways you are developing in your consciousness practice.This sculpture, entitled "Astro Block" (Figures 1-5), was inspired by the physical event that triggered my own expansion of human consciousness; a benign pilocytic astrocytoma brain tumor of the brain stem. The sculpture was inspired by the brain's role in expanded consciousness and its potential for neural growth during dysfunction.The location of the dysfunction was in the Astrocyte cells in the brain stem. Astrocytes are star-shaped cells found in the central nervous system that are highly linked to neurological function and regulating blood flow. The brain stem is an area that heavily controls the