Beyond Neurocinematics: Investigating Biased Social Perception through Collaboration between Neuroscience and Filmmaking

A growing number of neuroscientific studies use films as experimental stimuli, making filmmakers partners in investigations of the brain. The author provides his perspective as a filmmaker who has been conducting neuroscience experiments in collaboration with a team of neuroscientists at the Brain and Mind Laboratory of Aalto University, Finland, over the last five years. This collaboration led to the development of a novel method of investigating the subconscious brain using films as well as insights on how to create more empathy-evoking films. Finally, the author discusses the relationship between social bias and boundaries of collaboration between filmmaking and neuroscience.