Last year in Toronto, as an outgrowth of their PhD research into biofeedback, cyborgs James Fung and Corey Manders used EEG (brainwave) technology to give a concert in which audience members collectively and unconsciously created music with their minds. Called "DECONcert: Regenerative Music in the Key of EEG," the result was an experimental and jazz-like form of music that placed human beings into the feedback loop of a computational artistic process.

DECONcert was a sign of just how close we are to a new era of art, one in which developing brain technologies open the door for new forms of artistic expression in which human consciousness and subjective experience become a canvas unto themselves.

Recent insight into the workings of the brain and the development of promising neurotechnologies are showing that mood organs and similar devices are theoretically feasible. Given the pace of scientific development this century these types of devices should soon be within our grasp, and along with them new modes of artistic expression and experience.

At the physical level, emotions appear to be regulated through the amygdala, located deep inside the brain in the medial temporal lobe. The amygdala comprises several separately functioning nuclei, which are essentially electrical signal transit points. These components are necessary for emotional arousal, smell and pheromone processing. If you can regulate the amygdala and its associated components, you can control emotions.

The major difficulties to any of this are figuring out where to put the electrodes or pumps and what electrical dynamics, chemical dynamics or combination thereof are required to generate the appropriate patterns to get the desired response.

Such a feat won't be possible without sophisticated technologies, including intelligent computer control systems, microsurgery and possibly even molecular nanotechnology—not to mention the complete mapping of the human brain.

From the creative and recreational perspectives, the possibilities are quite fascinating. Today, artists are somewhat limited in their ability to go deeper inside a person's psyche. But in the future, artists will be able to perform not only on a canvas or musical instrument, but in the consciousness of the audience itself.

It's conceivable that predetermined sets of emotional experiences could be a future art form. Artists might, for example, manipulate emotions alongside established art forms. In the future, audiences could share emotional experiences with a film's protagonist. The experience would be unbelievably visceral, nothing like today's experience of sitting back and watching.

Of course, some will argue that when artists can directly manipulate emotions, they will have lost a dialogue with their audience, but this won't necessarily be the case. Rather, audience members will respond to emotional tapestries in unique ways based on their personal experiences, the same way they do now to other art forms.

Art has always been about transcending the individual and sharing the subjective experience of others. The greatest artists thrill us with their stories, endow us with emotional and interpersonal insight, and fill us with joy through beautiful melodies, paintings and dance. By doing so they give us a piece of their selves and allow us to venture inside their very minds—even if just for a little bit. In the future, we'll allow them to go even deeper into ours.

Excerpt from www.betterhumans.com, 12/13/04, website