Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are is a book by neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux who has done an impressive amount of research on how synapses (space between neurons) in the brain respond to the environment in the molecular level. His book summarizes years of research in the neuroscience field on synaptic plasticity, and in it he argues that since environment and our genetic predisposition determine modification of synapses in our brains and these two factors contribute to development of personality, then our personality must be a manifestation of these synaptic changes.
In this project, I distilled the progression of the argument LeDoux made down to a system of graphic symbols. From the use of abstract symbols representing nature, nurture, the brain, parts of the neuron and their interactions to the manipulation of typography, I produced a 33-page graphic representation of how synapses can be a lens into who we are.
The interaction of nature (chose a circle because it is organic) and nurture (addition symbol because we accumulate experience)
"The basic wiring of the brain is under genetic influence, genetic forces, operating on the synaptic arrangement of the brain, constrain the way we act, think, and feel (LeDoux)."
"Most of the systems in the brain are plastic, that is, modified by experience, which means that the synapses involved are changed by experience (LeDoux)."
Neurons communicate by release of neurotransmitters and the synapse is where this communication initates molecular signaling cascades that are the backbone of modification.
The linking of "i" is used here as a graphic representation of the neural network. "i" means the "self" and its typographic components also make it look like neuron.
Pan out from the molecular level of neurons to the brain.
During the planning stage, a storyboard was made to guide the progression of the project. The plan can be seen below.
