On October 20th and 21st, the Brain Science Institute aimed to bridge the two disparate fields together by hosting "The Science of the The Neuroscience of Aesthetics". The two day symposium brought famous artists and performers and neuroscientists together to engage in discussions ranging from the biological mechanisms of color processing to the complex coordination required in jazz improvisation. How did the whole thing fare? Hit the jump for details. 

There's a common idea that science and art are opposites. To some extent, it's justified. They attract different personalities and encourage different skills. Painters that follow strict rules and analyze every brush stroke often produce sterile imitations of art. Scientists that experience a stroke of luck in one experiment can't make any valid they need to ensure that what their results are replicable. The BSi aimed to repair this schism and show that both scientists can be creative and that artists can be logical. A group of ~300 patrons from both sides attended the events at the American Visionary Arts Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art to gain some perspective. &nbs