About
The Beautiful Brain explores the latest findings from the ever-growing field of neuroscience through monthly long-form essays, reviews, galleries, short-form blog posts and more, with particular attention to the dialogue between the arts and sciences. The site illuminates important new questions about creativity, the mind of the artist, and the mind of the observer that modern neuroscience is helping us to answer, or at least to provide part of an answer. Instances where art seeks to answer questions of a traditionally scientific nature are also of great interest, and for that reason you will hear from artists as well as scientists on The Beautiful Brain.
Personnel:
NOAH HUTTON (Founding Editor) graduated from Wesleyan University in 2009 where he studied art history and neuroscience. His first documentary feature film, Crude Independence, was an official selection of the 2009 SXSW Film Festival and won Best Documentary Feature at the 2009 Oxford Film Festival. Noah won Best Director at the 2011 FirstGlance Film Festival for his second feature documentary, More to Live For. He currently resides in New York City where he is the Creative Director of Couple 3, a production house for independent media. In 2010, he traveled to Lausanne, Switzerland, to begin filming a 10-year documentary about The Blue Brain Project, and in 2011 he will direct a series of 30 short films for Scientific American and serve as a judge for the 2011 Brain Art Competition. He can be reached at noah@thebeautifulbrain.com.
SAM MCDOUGLE (Contributing Editor, Author of re:COGNITION) is a musician, writer, and lab dweller. Sam holds a degree in Neuroscience and Behavior from Vassar College, where he focused his studies on cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary psychology while dabbling in philosophy. Sam worked as a research scientist in Dr. Javier Medina’s lab at The University of Pennsylvania, investigating the neural basis of motor learning– specifically learned reflex timing– using tools from neuropsychology, in vivo neurophysiology and computational neuroscience. Sam’s musical credits include performances with two NYC-based bands, the indie rock trio The Powder Kegs and his old-time/americana project Tumbling Bones, at various prominent festivals and clubs in the US and abroad, three acclaimed full length albums, and two EPs. Sam was born and raised in New York City and now happily resides in Brooklyn where he has no pets, no children, and 6 different stringed instruments (and counting). He can be reached for questions, comments, criticism, and praise at sam@thebeautifulbrain.com.
BENJAMIN EHRLICH (Contributing Editor) is a writer living in New York City. In 2009 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with highest honors in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, where he was also a three-year member of the varsity basketball team. Ben is currently at work translating the non-scientific writings of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the Nobel Prize-winning “father of modern neuroscience.” During the day he is known as “Dr. Recess,” as he holds a PhD in the Recess Arts from Recess University. His interdisplinary dissertation included a theoretical analysis of the Law in kickball team-picking, advanced wiffle ball physics, and Eastern methods of boo-boo healing. It is as yet unpublished. Ben can be reached at ben@thebeautifulbrain.com.
IAN PARK (Managing Editor) graduated from Wesleyan University in May 2011 with a degree in Neuroscience and Behavior. In that same year, he was Director of Photography of a senior documentary thesis film at Wesleyan, which won first place. He recently acted as Director of Photography on a Clinique commercial for a competition–it won honorable mentions. He is currently working as a producer/director/editor of video and other digital content in Soho, NY, as well as working on a soon-to-be-released web series, “Postponed.” He can be reached at ian@iancpark.com
