Neuroscience & Architecture Research

Golembiewski is an accomplished neuroscientist, and although he is an architect, many of his neuroscience papers don't discuss architecture at all. 'The reason,' he says, 'is because we need to set up the foundation, before confusing it with detail. The science isn't for me - the science is neutral and it's  there for everyone, regardless of their interests.'

Golembiewski's neuroscience research has largely focused on the dopamine neurotransmitter, how it modulates attention to the external environment, and also how it is implicated in mental illness. 'It's quite possible that all the transmitters have an impact on how architecture affects us. Certainly dopamine, serotonin, noradrenalin and GABA do - and it's the job of scientists like myself and my colleagues to work out what, and how to use architecture to moderate the transmission and synthesis of these chemicals. By doing so we are inventing a new paradigm of passive medicine - a way of designing bespoke environments that allow the natural recovery processes to kick in early, meaning that fewer medications and restraints are required, and better results can be achieved faster.'

One of Golembiewski's scientific discoveries works like a dopamine-driven switch that alters the way attention works (and feels) depending on the emotional response to the environment. In one state creativity is enabled, and the feeling is an intense feeling of being. In the other state people work on autopilot. Over the long term, the sense of self is severely depleted, leading to a number of core symptoms and one of the most profound experiences of mental illness; the sensation that 'I'm not here.'

The dopaminergic switch alters the perceptual method that people use. Under normal circumstances we mostly use a top-down attentional mode, and have another bottom up mode, for when the top-down one fails, or for when circumstances aren't as we expect them to be. In hallucinatory conditions only the top-down mode functions properly.

Some of our research on the Neuroscience of Design

• Le Hunte, B. and J. Golembiewski (2014). "Stories have the power to save us: A Neurological Framework for the Imperative to Tell Stories." Arts and Social Sciences Journal 5(2): 73-77.

• Golembiewski, J. (2013). "Are diverse factors proxies for architectural influences? A case for architecture in the aetiology of schizophrenia." Curēus 5(3): e106.

• Golembiewski, J. (2013). "The subcortical confinement hypothesis for schizotypal hallucinations." Curēus 5(5): e118.

• Golembiewski, J. (2012). "All common psychotic symptoms can be explained by the theory of ecological perception." Medical Hypotheses 78: 7-10.