Simplifying Complexity: The Visual Language of Neuroscience

Many fields of science have their own specialised visual language that requires training to read and understand. Each language is made up of an ‘alphabet’ of visual elements, representing theories or processes within that field, and these are combined to create scientific conceptual figures. Graphic design practice is an important tool in the analysis of such figures, allowing the visual elements to be identified and extracted, and then compared and contrasted to reveal their indicative features. This enables a nonscientist to begin to understand the building blocks of a scientific visual language, as demonstrated here for the field of neuroscience. Having gained this understanding, a graphic designer can then engage in meaningful collaborative work with scientists in that field.

Keywords: chemical neurotransmission ; graphic design ; graphic design practice ; graphic design research ; history of science ; illustration ; neuron ; pattern ; practice-based research ; santiago ramón y cajal ; scientific conceptual figures ; scientific visual communication ; shape ; typologies ; visual elements