VISUAL AIDS IN MEDICINE

Visual aids have long been used in medicine (particularly in the fields of neurology and psychiatry) to help understand the inner workings of the brain. They are used to study the synaptic connections that recreate, ignore, or establish inferred realities.

Most people are unable to accurately identify the midpoint of the stylized arrows that comprise the Müller-Lyer test. Some are unable to “see” both the vase and profile silhouettes in the famous black-and-white optical illusions. The test for color blindness requires persons to identify a “hidden” number in the center of an image made up of different-colored pastel dots, and the “ink blot” Rorschach test has long been used to assess patients with anxiety, depression, and psychosis. How one interprets a work of art can also tell us a lot about our neural pathways.

This abstract work of art titled “Mind Games” was created by physician artist Dr Lucie Mitchell using an image of one of her own cervical vertebrae. It represents the games our brains play when we become preoccupied with unrelenting thoughts and worries. Unable to rest, we become bleary-eyed and unable to focus on the days ahead. ☤