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Demons of Analogy: The Encounter Between Music and Language After Mallarme
Get PDFWhy do we make analogies? The standard definition suggests “[a] comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification” (Oxford Languages); an analogy is when something borrows another vocabulary, another set of terms, or another paradigm, to facilitate a deeper understanding. But here, I argue that analogy is more than a didactic tool for making explanations more convenient: rather, analogy is the essential way that we understand ourselves in relation to others—for my purposes, how artists understand their own medium in relation to other mediums. Specifically, I use the concept of analogy to explore the encounter between music and language; I take as my starting point the French Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé, one of the major poets in France at the time of his death in 1898, with a legacy which resonates today in poststructuralism and experimental poetry. Mallarmé interests me because he exemplifies an analogical approach to understanding poetry: in order to articulate his poetics, Mallarmé found inspiration in a diverse array of mediums from dance to mime to acting, and most importantly, in music. This project adopts a three-part approach, investigating the encounter between music and language first from the perspective of language, then from the perspective of music, and finally examining art which reconciles music and language in a more liminal status. Chapter 1 discusses how Mallarmé’s ideal language parasites music: he uses music to articulate the terms of his ideal language, but in doing so silences music, removing its status as actual sound. Chapter 2 explores how composer Pierre Boulez turns this parasitism around, using music as a parasite on language: Boulez sets Mallarmé\u27s poetry, but in doing so, he renders it into sound, deprivileging its linguistic qualities while embedding them into the musical structure. Chapter 3 explores contemporary manifestations of music/language art with composer Georges Aperghis and Orphan Drift, an interdisciplinary art collective; I will discuss how it is possible to create a work of art which successfully blends language and music by turning the artwork itself into a host for parasitic infections from both mediums. I conclude by examining my own creative work and how it seeks to explore the relationship between music and language, hopefully suggesting future potentialities for interdisciplinary artmaking. Interludes will separate each chapter, linking them together by pivoting the parasitic dynamic
Boronic Acid Modulators of Polydopamine Polymerizations
No full textThe structure of polydopamine, a dopamine-based analog of the naturally occurring polymer melanin, is not completely understood. Dopamine and subsequent intermediates in the polymerization contain the catechol functional group, which is known to interact with another class of compounds, called boronic acids. We have been testing how boronic affect the polymerization rate of dopamine in solution to learn more about the polymer\u27s structure, as well as catalog which boronic acids serve as good inhibitors. Polydopamine has many applications in materials science and its synthesis can potentially be tailored for different applications by using boronic acid inhibitors. The focus of our experiments this year has been to determine a reliable procedure for the synthesis of polydopamine, as well as how the inhibiting effect of various boronic acids impacts the polymerization process. Using UV-Vis spectroscopy and reactions in 96-well plates, fifteen boronic acids and related compounds have been tested at different concentrations and different points in the polymerization. This poster will describe our development of the assay and our initial progress toward using boronic acids to help understand the structure and activity of polydopamine
Investigating the effect of differential striatal dopamine projections on reversal learning and immediate early gene (IEG) expression
No full textBehavioral flexibility is key to survival in a dynamic environment. One form of flexibility is reversal learning, or the ability to switch between opposing actions following a change in outcome. Key to this process is the striatum, a subcortical structure tasked with action selection and the learning of novel motor behaviors. Early development of motor behaviors is dependent on the dorsomedial striatum, which later becomes dependent on lateral striatum as behaviors become inflexible. Similarly, dopamine release in striatum mirrors this medial-to-lateral transition, suggesting that lateral dopamine release may be a key mechanism in establishing inflexible behaviors late in learning, though this has not been directly tested. To investigate this, we bred DATcre x Ai32 mice to allow selective optogenetic activation of dopamine terminals within medial, lateral, and ventral striatum. These mice performed an intracranial self-stimulation reversal task in which they received optogenetic stimulation to medial (n=7), lateral (n=7), or ventral (n=8) dopamine inputs when they pressed one of two levers before the active lever was switched. Consistent with presumed ventromedial/lateral striatal function, we found that mice self-stimulating ventral or medial striatal dopamine were flexible following reversal, while activation of lateral striatal dopamine impaired reversal. This effect was associated with no difference in place preference or locomotion in an open field across groups. In addition, pilot studies suggest optogenetic activation of medial and lateral dopamine modifies reversal for food rewards, and this manipulation may be associated with striatal immediate early genes (IEG) expression, which support synaptic plasticity and learning. This work contributes to our general understanding of how dopamine modifies subcircuits within the striatum to switch between different behavioral strategies, and may provide insight into how drugs of abuse promote inflexible, habitual behaviors in drug addiction
Researching Kiribati Objects in the Oberlin College Ethnographic Collection
No full textThe Oberlin College Ethnographic Collection (OCEC) includes a number of items from the Micronesian country of Kiribati that were acquired by three Oberlin-graduate Christian missionaries in the late 1800’s and subsequently given to the now defunct Oberlin College Museum. The goal of my project is to analyze these objects and learn more about how they were used in their original cultural contexts in Kiribati as well as how they were collected and brought to Oberlin. During the latter half of the 19th century, Kiribati society and culture were altered by increasing colonial forces including presence of Christain missionaries in the islands, and the histories of these objects reflect this period. The riri, one of the objects in the collection, is a grass skirt that exemplifies the changes in Kiribati life through alterations in its form and use. Other objects in the collection include pieces of weapons or armor which provide insight on how warfare was conducted in Kiribati. The barantauti, for example, was a helmet made of an inflated porcupine fish that served both as armor and a source of intimidation. Shark-toothed implements were used to mutilate opponents, leaving scars that were the signature look of experienced fighters. Together, the objects offer a rich source of information on the dynamics of i-Kiribati communities during a period of rapid cultural change
“Rediscovering Humanity”: Cultivating Community and Defying Norms in the Wake of Tragedy
No full textMedia, politicians, and historians have long generated firm ideas of what happens to civil society when “all hell breaks loose” — namely, in the aftermath of natural disasters and sudden tragedies. Stemming from a Hobbesian approach of human nature, the common beliefs are that disaster leads to chaos, that people become their worst selves, and that citizens run away from one another. These views, however, give little credence to the selflessness and need for community that all people possess. In this presentation, I debunk these myths by presenting a more hopeful, human, and accurate view of society in the aftermath of tragedy. From an extensive literature review spanning the fields of psychology, sociology, and anthropology, I will discuss the unique properties and outcomes of isolated disaster events. I will support these ideas with real-life examples. Ultimately, I will assert that these findings and examples demonstrate how human responses to disaster run counter to several prominent social psychological theories of human behavior
Increases in sensory noise predict attentional disruptions to audiovisual speech perception
No full textWe receive information about the world around us from multiple senses which combine in a process known as multisensory integration. Multisensory integration has been shown to be dependent on attention; however, the neural mechanisms underlying this effect are poorly understood. The current study investigates whether changes in sensory noise explain the effect of attention on multisensory integration and whether attentional modulations to multisensory integration occur via modality-specific mechanisms. A task based on the McGurk Illusion was used to measure multisensory integration while attention was manipulated via a concurrent auditory or visual task. Sensory noise was measured within modality based on variability in unisensory performance and was used to predict attentional changes to McGurk perception. Consistent with previous studies, reports of the McGurk illusion decreased when accompanied with a secondary task; however, this effect was stronger for the secondary visual (as opposed to auditory) task. While auditory noise was not influenced by either secondary task, visual noise increased with the addition of the secondary visual task specifically. Interestingly, visual noise accounted for significant variability in attentional disruptions to the McGurk illusion. Overall, these results strongly suggest that sensory noise may underlie attentional alterations to multisensory integration in a modality-specific manner. Future studies are needed to determine whether this finding generalizes to other types of multisensory integration and attentional manipulations. This line of research may inform future studies of attentional alterations to sensory processing in neurological disorders, such as Schizophrenia, Autism, and ADHD
Cannabidiol (CBD) drives sex-dependent impairments in omission, but has no effect on reinforcer devaluation
No full textHabits are inflexible behaviors that persist despite changes in outcome value. While habits allow for efficient responding, neuropsychiatric diseases such as drug addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder are characterized by overreliance on habits. Recently, the commercially popular drug cannabidiol (CBD) has emerged as a potential treatment for addictive behaviors, though it is not entirely clear how it exerts this therapeutic effect. As brain endocannabinoids play a key role in habit formation, we sought to determine how CBD modifies goal-directed behaviors and habit formation. To explore this, mice were administered CBD (20 mg/kg i.p.) or vehicle as a control and trained on random interval (RI30/60) or random ratio (RR10/20) schedules designed to elicit habitual or goal-directed lever pressing, respectively. Mice were tested for habitual responding using probe trials following reinforcer-specific devaluation as well as omission trials, where mice had to withhold responding to earn rewards. We found that while CBD had little effect on operant behaviors or reward devaluation, CBD inhibited goal-directed behavior in a sex-specific and context dependent manner during the omission task. Beyond drug treatment, we found an effect of sex throughout training, reward devaluation, and omission. This work provides evidence that CBD has no effect on habit formation in a reward devaluation paradigm. However, the omission results suggest that CBD may slow learning of novel action outcome contingencies or decrease goal-directed behavior. This work calls for further examination of sex-dependent outcomes of CBD treatment and highlights the importance of investigating sex effects in habit-related experiments
