Seeing the Bigger Picture
Visual Imagination and the Social Brain
Janneke van Leeuwen, 2020
ABSTRACT
This PhD thesis describes multimodal aspects of visual imagination in relation to visual art and complex images, defining ‘visual imagination’ broadly as a dynamic of complex psychological processes that integrate visual information with prior experiences and knowledge to construct internal models of oneself, others and the outside world.
Complementary neuroscientific and artistic research methods were used to probe relationships between visual imagination and social brain functions in neurologically healthy young adults (age 20 - 30) and senior adults (age 50+). The research also included 14 case studies of senior adults (age 50+) living with various forms of dementia.
The research took place between the Wellcome Collection, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and the Limehouse Art Foundation in London, UK, in collaboration with the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, NL.
The eBook of the thesis can be downloaded for free.