DrAshley Taggart

He is currently writing about the cross-currents between literature and neuroscience. This work is an attempt to make some recent neuroscientific advances accessible to an audience from the humanities, to look at how fiction and autobiography have been shaped by recent discoveries about the brain, but also, conversely, to consider how narrative imperatives may impinge on the structure and delivery of scientific research itself. Topics touched upon include: discussion of the seemingly universal hunger for narrative, the devices used by fiction to trigger specific brain processes relating to memory and emotion, the history and neurophysiology of reading and writing. Three novels are taken as case studies for the recent artistic fascination with brain science - Jim Crace's Gift of Stones, Ian McEwan's Saturday, and E.L. Doctorow's, Andrew's Brain. An account of two celebrated autobiographical accounts of brain damage is also given, before turning to the case study of a scientist who radically (and wrongly) amended his groundbreaking theory to conform to narrative expectations - Charles Darwin.

Most recently, he published a chapter on ideas of trans-humanism and post-humanism as they emerge in modern drama (using Stacey Gregg's Scorched).

On the creative side, he completed a documentary for TG4 which will be screened early next year.

Ashley has also been also been commissioned by Smock Alley to work on a stage adaptation of The Rime of The Ancient Mariner, which is in progress.

He is also also putting together a film proposal about an Italian poet who sacrificed his life in the fight against Fascism and several new ideas for documentaries, including one about Irish speakers and native American speakers in Montana collaborating on ways to preserve their heritage.

Generally, he is interested in the effects of new technologies on literary self-perception and self-portrayal: biohacking, A.I. nootropics, physiological and perceptual enhancement.