Creativity & Art – Neuroscientific and Psychoanalytic Perspectives

An up-to-date book about art through the lens of neuroscience and psychology.   In Creativity & Art, Andreas and Barbara Steck use an interdisciplinary approach to discuss creative processes from a neuroscientific and psychoanalytic perspective. By referring to the current knowledge of brain sciences, the authors explore the understanding of the neural bases innate to the creation of art. Beginning with historical aspects of aesthetic experience and creation in ancient and modern times, the authors go on to present numerous artists in various fields, with an emphasis on how their subjective lived experiences are expressed and reflected in their artwork. Finally, the Stecks describe the building blocks of creativity in early childhood development discuss the psychoanalytic understanding of human aesthetic experience and creativity. Insightful and thought-provoking, Creativity & Art examines art through the lens of neuroscience and psychology.  

Andreas Steck is professor emeritus of neurology at the University of Basel. He was president of the Swiss Neurological Society and a founding member and president of the European Neurological Society. Barbara Steck is a lecturer emeritus in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy at the University of Basel. Together, they are the authors of Brain and Mind.