I am a cognitive scientist, biologist, and artist studying how humans respond to constructs of representations and reality. My work is at the confluence of arts and sciences, primarily focusing on aesthetics, socio-cultural psychology, and consciousness studies. As an artist and writer, I work with fine-art photography, experimental videography, and poetry (dyutimanmukhopadhyay.com).
My career transitioned from biological/biomedical sciences to experimental/cognitive aesthetics over the past twenty years. Currently, I focus more on exploring a-disciplinary questions that navigate the shared complexities of knowledge, bridging the realms of arts and sciences beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries.
I am a Professor (full) in Information Arts & Information Design Practices at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India. I also served as an Adjunct Professor in the Consciousness Studies Programme at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, India, as a British Academy Newton International Fellow at University College London, UK (Experimental Psychology/Brain Sciences), and as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India) at the Centre for Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar.
My proposition on the neuropsychology of the aesthetic paradox has been featured in literary theory and emotion research, cited by experts such as Gina Gabrielle Starr, Louise Sundararajan, Zachary Simpson, Kim Devereux, and Maria Korusiewicz (Mukhopadhyay, 2014). My other major work deals with the characterization of functional brain networks and emotion centres based on the Rasa theory of ancient Indian aesthetics (Mukhopadhyay et al., 2022; Tripathi, Mukhopadhyay et al., 2020). I also work on the cultural models of ‘Self’ and social appraisal using naturalistic stimuli like films through the lens of cross-cultural, social, and personality psychology (Mukhopadhyay, 2021, 2025).
I have a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, three postdoctoral tenures in Cognitive (experimental/neuro-aesthetics) and Biomedical Sciences (stress biology), a Master’s in Animal Biology, a postgraduate diploma in Bioinformatics, and an advanced diploma in Fine-Arts (painting). I received the T1 Exceptional Talent Work permit endorsed by the British Academy, UK (2019-2024). My photography received official selections and recognition at the Venice International Photo Contest, in Italy, at the International Photography Awards, in the USA, at the Prix de la Photographie, in Paris, and on the National Geographic website.
Research Tools: Indian texts on Philosophy of Science, Religion, and Aesthetics (1500 BC–1000 AD), Poetry of the Ancient and Medieval East, Experimental Psychology, Eye-tracking, Electroencephalography (EEG), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Digital Art, Painting, Photography, and Cinema (also well versed in Diagnostic Andrology and Assisted Conception technologies as part of early career biomedical research works).
Personal Website: https://dyutimanmukhopadhyay.com/
Institute Profile: https://srishtimanipalinstitute.in/teaching_faculty/dyutiman-mukhopadhyay/
Scopus ID: 56567537000; Orcid ID: 0000-0003-4035-4711; WOS ResearcherID: HCI-7783-2022.
