Spark, With Nora Young, by CBC Radio explores how neuroscience and technology intersect to enhance our understanding of memory. Joshua Sariñana explains how memory engrams—networks of neurons encoding experiences—can be visualized and artificially activated using advanced techniques like optogenetics.

The podcast episode of Culture Matters at the Urban Media Art studio features Joshua Sariñana discussing his project Mental Mapping: The Art of Exploring Connections, which bridges neuroscience, visual art, and AI to examine how individuals connect their internal experiences with their external environments.

Joshua Sariñana, PhD, December’s Artist of the Month, is a neuroscientist-turned-artist whose work bridges the gap between cognition, space, and visual storytelling. With a background in neuroscience research at MIT, where he studied brain networks and memory, Sariñana integrates scientific principles into his artistic practice. Read the Interview

Connecting with Joshua Sariñana, we discussed the ways he has joined the photographic arts with the field of science since his 2016 Griffin Exhibition, Prosopagnosia, the right vs. left brain myth regarding creativity, and the importance of programming to purposefully create diversity and inclusivity when working toward racial and social justice.

This WIRED interview between Joshua Sariñana and Sinead Bowell explores the digital afterlife. They discuss the interplay between neuroscience, technology, and memory, discussing how advancements in understanding and manipulating memories could impact science, medicine, and identity. Joshua Sariñana highlights the potential of technologies like AI and neurotechnologies to reconstruct, externalize, and even upload memories, raising ethical concerns about privacy, equity, and data bias.

The Poetry of Science interview on GBH, hosted by Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, features Joshua Sariñana and Makinde Ogunnaike discussing their interdisciplinary project that combines poetry, photography, and science. The initiative explores the personal and professional lives of scientists, using poetry as a medium to make complex scientific ideas accessible and emotionally resonant. Sariñana emphasizes how the project bridges gaps between abstract scientific concepts and human experiences, inspired by James Baldwin’s reflections on art and truth.

Joshua Sariñana, PhD ’11, merges his expertise in neuroscience, photography, and storytelling in The Poetry of Science, a public art installation advocating for racial and social justice. Supported by a Cambridge Arts Council Art for Racial Justice Grant, this multimedia project pairs scientists of color with poets of color to create collaborative works that celebrate their contributions and amplify their voices. Through portraits by Vanessa Leroy and poetry inspired by the scientists’ work, the project fosters a deeper understanding of science and promotes positive associations with communities of color.

I caught up with the multi-faceted Joshua Sariñana to talk about his new project with the Somerville Arts Council, titled Through These Realities, that will seek six local poets and photographers of color, who will create a series of images, inspired by prompt-guided poetry from poets.

Joshua Sariñana, PhD, contributes his expertise in neuroscience and photography to the documentary In an Instant, which examines the evolving role of photography in memory and identity. Sariñana discusses how the overwhelming volume of digital images challenges our ability to process and retain memories, as the act of capturing and viewing photographs becomes increasingly disconnected. Drawing parallels between analog and digital photography, he highlights how physical media, like Polaroid film, fosters a tactile and emotional connection that modern digital platforms often lack.

In an interview with Feature Shoot, Joshua Sariñana discusses his photographic series Surface and Consciousness, which transforms urban puddles into portals of reflection and altered perception. Drawing on his background in neuroscience, Sariñana explores the tension between the physical and psychological realms, using puddles as metaphors for consciousness and self-reflection. Read the Interview >

Joshua Sariñana’s photography is deeply intertwined with neuroscience, memory, and personal experience. Featured in Better Photography (August 2016), his work explores themes of detachment, nostalgia, and emotional depth, using bold colors and visual metaphors to evoke psychological states. Read the Interview

I always have at least one camera with me at all times, and now that I have a toddler most of my images are made between work and home. Because I work across the street from the Stata Center — which contains the Computer Science and Artificial Laboratory (CSAIL) and Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, among other things — I come across the building several times a day. 

In an interview with VICE Magazine, Joshua Sariñana, a neuroscientist and photographer, explores the intricate relationship between memory, perception, and photography.