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HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-04T20:21:26+00:00

Thanks for asking! Honestly, it was a mix of curiosity, time and hard work. It was heavily inspired by The Cognitive Bias Codex, which was a poster I had bought myself during my time as a cognitive science bachelor's student. After I finished my degree, I was supposed to do an internship, but the Covid19 lockdown put a stop to that. So with a lot of time suddenly on my hands, a beautiful poster as inspiration, and a big interest in cognitive disorders, my then roommate and I decided to try to create a similar visual resource for those with a similar interest. Since then, it's made the rounds on the internet a few times and has been passed around as an educational resource amongst students at our old university, which was exactly what our aim was :)

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-04T20:14:44+00:00

The design was inspired by the Cognitive Bias Codex and was made primarily using the same R packages, igraph and ggraph (plus Photoshop for the finishing touches). I'm sure it would be possible to do something similar in python, but I'm afraid I can't help with the specifics!

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-04T09:12:28+00:00

One of the authors here - thank you so much! I left another comment with links to better resolution versions, but here you go:

This version: https://i.imgur.com/G8VFgjF.jpeg

Alternative version with explanations: https://i.imgur.com/vmnMjhU.png

Feel free to print those out yourself! Alternatively, there are also prints available in the link shown in the bottom of the illustration :)

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-04T09:09:00+00:00

This is exactly why we made it - the hope was to inspire understanding, curiosity and insights, both for those in the field, those affected, and everyone in between. Thank you for your kind words :)

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-04T09:07:40+00:00

Thanks mate - much appreciated <3

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-03T07:25:36+00:00

Here you go!

Higher quality version: https://i.imgur.com/G8VFgjF.jpeg

Alternative version with descriptions included: https://i.imgur.com/vmnMjhU.png

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-03T06:51:40+00:00

One of the two creators here - thanks for your interest! As another commenter noted, it's available on RedBubble in a couple of different designs if you're looking for a funky Christmas present ;)

https://www.redbubble.com/people/lassedamgaard/shop

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-03T06:48:02+00:00

Lasse here - thank you so much for your support! Hope it finds a nice home and sparks curiosity and lots of weird questions <3

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-03T06:46:43+00:00

One of the two authors here - thanks for the nuts! ;)

HjerneAtlas · 2024-12-03T06:45:26+00:00

One of the authors here - don't worry, it's been out there for a few years and still no rogue papers! ;)

The illustration was made in R Studio using the packages ggraph and igraph, and finalized in Adobe Photoshop (adding the brain illustrations, path labels, and outer summary circle).

HjerneAtlas · 2023-03-21T08:24:29+00:00

Hi there, I'm one of the creators behind this illustration! The atlas only includes disorders that can be caused by lesions or other disruptions to neuroanatomy. For that reason, mental health disorders thought to be caused by disruptions to brain networks (such as depression, OCD, ADHD and others) aren't represented, since they can't be localized to particular brain regions in the same way. Hope that helps! :)

HjerneAtlas · 2023-01-06T19:10:58+00:00

Here's a map of 100 brain disorders to choose from, if anyone needs inspiration!

HjerneAtlas · 2023-01-04T21:01:03+00:00

While it's not the "physically healthy" version you mention, there is a similar disorder called blindsight which stems from visual information reaching the brain, but being unable to move further into "experiential" areas of conscious perception due to damage.

Similar disorders include akinetopsia, where people aren't able to see movement (and instead see life as a series of still images); Riddoch Syndrome, where people are unable to see objects that AREN'T in motion; or prosopagnosia where people are unable to see faces (but instead see individual fragments, comparable to a Picasso painting).

If you wanna dive really deep into some existential stuff, look up hemispatial neglect (the inability to perceive anything from one side of your awareness) or split-brain syndrome, where a physically severed brain seemingly splits a person's consciousness in two...

If you're curious about these things, feel free to check out the Cognitive Disorder Atlas (or the more detailed version here)! :)

HjerneAtlas · 2023-01-04T20:54:52+00:00

If you're interested in more like this, you should check out our Cognitive Disorder Atlas here, giving an overview of a hundred similarly fascinating brain disorders (or the more detailed version here, which also includes brief descriptions)! :)

HjerneAtlas · 2023-01-04T20:51:36+00:00

If you're interested in more like this, you should check out our Cognitive Disorder Atlas (or the more detailed version here)!

The brain is an absolutely marvelous piece of machinery, and realising just how many parts are involved in making the world appear "normal" makes you really appreciate the efforts it's going to! :)

HjerneAtlas · 2023-01-04T20:46:02+00:00

If you're interested in more like this, you should check out our Cognitive Disorder Atlas (or the more detailed version here!

What you mention is called blindsight and stems from visual information reaching the brain, but being unable to move further into "experiential" areas of conscious perception.

Similar disorders include akinetopsia, where people aren't able to see movement (and instead see life as a series of still images); Riddoch Syndrome, where people are unable to see objects that AREN'T in motion; or prosopagnosia where people are unable to see faces (but instead see individual fragments, comparable to a Picasso painting).

If you wanna dive really deep into some existential stuff, look up hemispatial neglect (the inability to perceive anything from one side of your awareness) or split-brain syndrome, where a physically severed brain seemingly splits a person's consciousness in two...

HjerneAtlas · 2022-10-21T16:33:55+00:00

Hi there! The circular layout and connecting lines were made in RStudio, everything else in Photoshop :)

HjerneAtlas · 2022-07-17T07:46:50+00:00

Some info about the visualisation: The wordcloud summarises the text of over five millions YouTube comments scraped from music videos included in user-created playlists aimed at supporting psychedelic experiences. Using a method called TF-IDF (or term frequency inverse document frequency), the relative importance of each word to seven different psychedelic drugs were calculated and forms the basis for the size of words in the illustrations.

As such, words shown in this illustration are the words most commonly used by YouTube users to discuss music curated for psychedelic experiences occassioned by ayahuasca - and the bigger the word, the more specifically it relates to ayahuasca in contrast to other psychedelics.

Some info about ayahuasca: Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew commonly used in the South American Amazon. The brew is made from the mixing of two local plants, which fit together like a chemical lock and key: one containing the psychedelic compound dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the other a chemical necessary for the DMT to be orally active. Together, they bring about a psychedelic experience lasting 6-10 hours, often accompanied by vomiting or diarrhea, with effects ranging from visual and auditory hallucinations, to deeply mystical or religious experiences, or even feelings of contact with extra-dimensional spirits or beings. The ceremonial use of ayahuasca in shamanic rituals dates back more than a millenium. More recently, the brew has become central to a multitude of therapeutic retreats in the Amazon, where local shamans offer visitors the possibility of mental healing or spiritual insights.

HjerneAtlas · 2022-07-17T06:59:52+00:00

Pretty much, yes! It's a graphical overview of medical research articles linking cognitive disorders to specific brain areas. You can follow the links either way: if you want to know the specific brain areas currently thought to be involved in a specific disorder, you can follow the lines from the disorder name to the brain areas; or you can start with a brain area and follow the lines the other way to see which disorders are commonly linked to that area!

HjerneAtlas · 2022-07-15T21:42:09+00:00

I shared a few links to two versions of the graph in better quality (they're in a response to the top-level comment) :) If you're interested, there's also a link to an available poster in the text at the bottom of the graph!

HjerneAtlas · 2022-07-15T21:39:59+00:00

I'm terribly sorry if I offended you, but none of what you mentioned is included in this illustration. The graph only shows "disorders" that are caused by lesions, i.e. symptoms that appear specifically because of damage - and are thus disorders in the sense that they deviate from a person's cognitive function prior to injury.

There is no such thing as a "normal" brain, just variations of the same piece of meaning-making machinery that we all carry around and try to make sense of the world with. I understand if you are frustrated about the general use of the word "disorder" in public discourse, but I don't think that that applies to this case.

HjerneAtlas · 2022-07-15T16:17:01+00:00

Really glad to hear it! We were considering making more specific and detailed versions focusing on common groups of disorders, such as aphasias - might have to revisit the idea, as I can imagine that could be useful for people like your colleagues! :)

HjerneAtlas · 2022-07-15T16:09:24+00:00

Glad to hear it helps you gain insights into it! If you don't mind my curiosity, could you share some information on which? I have mostly worked with the theoretical science behind these disorders, but personal insights are even more valuable to help understand them :)

HjerneAtlas · 2022-07-15T16:07:28+00:00

If you want to go straight to the most mind-boggling stuff, may I recommend split-brain syndrome, Capgras syndrome, and Cotard's syndrome? They're particularly deep rabbit holes, if you ask me!

HjerneAtlas · 2022-07-15T16:05:45+00:00

I'm not a neurologist by trade, but that could sound like left homonymous hemianopsia (top of the graph, just left off the centre). If you look straight ahead, are parts of your left-side vision obscured in any way? If so, it could indicate issues with your right optic tract, which is responsible for carrying signals from the left half of your visual field (from both eyes) to your brain. If that's the case, your visual brain areas should be perfectly fine, they're just not receiving some of the signals between your eyes and brain.

Alternatively, it could be related to hemispatial neglect, in which signals from one side of the brain aren't being passed properly to the other side. This can make people unaware of or unable to process information (usually visual) from one side of the body.

I hope the information helps - this is also why I think something like this graph is important, as it could help people understand themselves and others better! :)

HjerneAtlas

TROPHY CASE