How Creativity Drives Desire: Exploring the Neural Mechanisms of Creativity and How they Relate to Collecting

collector brain, Psychology of Collecting, The Psychology of Collecting

As you can see in this diagram, dopamine that’s used in the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways (shown in purple) is produced in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The dopamine is then projected to the nucleus accumbens (mesolimbic pathway) or the prefrontal cortex (mesocortical pathway).

by Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. Creativity is not just for artists—it’s present in solving problems, making jokes, or even collecting objects. The process of collecting activates a variety of brain networks ...

A Museum of the Mind: Dataland

AI art, dataland, Museums and Exhibits, The Psychology of Collecting

By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. In late 2025, an unprecedented art center will open in Los Angeles: Dataland, the world’s first museum dedicated to AI-generated art. Turkish-American artist Refik Anadol ...

Vinyl Records and the Meaning of Music Memorabilia: Identity, Beauty, and Belonging

Antique Marketplace News, collecting music, RetroCollect, The Psychology of Collecting

Dantes HiFi in Miami, the areaﾒs first vinyl listening bar.

By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. Music memorabilia—especially vinyl records—serves as more than a nostalgic nod to the past. For many collectors, it is an intricate, deeply personal, and socially meaningful ...

A Human Brain Turned to Glass

The Psychology of Collecting

By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. As a collector, I am always looking for the next best thing. The thought of it delights my brain even more than having it. That ...

Adult Doll Collecting: A Therapeutic Obsession

Antique Dolls, doll collecting, The Psychology of Collecting

by Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. Elizabeth Kraft Taylor, author of Three Jews Walked into a Shopping Center, recalls her infatuation with dolls. “It started when I was about 30 years ...

Navigating the Heartache of Deaccession

Deaccession, deaccessioning, The Psychology of Collecting

Entomology collections and staff in the collection’s storeroom, National Museum of Natural History. Museum geographers Hilary Geoghegan and Alison Hess write that storerooms are “shaped by the emotion attached to the objects they house.” A storeroom, they write, is “a lively space…exhibiting a magical, enchanted materiality.” This demonstrates that it is not only the collectors that are taken with their collections but the museum caretakers of such gifts as well. Deaccessioning parts of museum collections has recently come under scrutiny as these institutions try to remain afloat during hard times.?

By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. January is an important sale month at many auction houses. Once again, I’m in the game. The last time this happened, I was a nervous ...

The Gift of You: How Reflecting Your Own Identity Creates Closer Bonds

antique holiday gifts, The Psychology of Collecting

Don’t become robo-gifter. Make it a reflection of you.

By Shirley M. Mueller, MD The study “Give a Piece of You: Gifts That Reflect Givers Promote Closeness” challenged my assumptions about gifting. Until I encountered this research, I thought ...

Collecting, Life Satisfaction, and Personality Traits

personality traits and collecting, The Psychology of Collecting

by Shirley M. Mueller, MD Insights from a Big Five Analysis: Mõttus et al. (2024) In a study by Mõttus et al. (2024), researchers examined de-identified data from 9,110 Dutch residents, ...

Collecting With Purpose: Completing a Set

Collecting, Psychology of Collecting, set collecting, The Psychology of Collecting

Chinese porcelain Kangxi 5-piece garniture set.

Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. A set embodies a higher good to the collector than use or as a collectible alone. Collecting can satisfy a number of needs, from social interaction ...

Human Touch vs. Machine Precision: AI’s Impact on Art Collecting

AI, Art Collecting, The Psychology of Collecting

AI tools can create new images, but who is the real artist?

by Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. For collectors who like art, especially sculpture, the National Sculpture Society annual meeting is the place to be September 19th-22nd, 2024. Held in Indianapolis, IN, ...

Collectors, Hoarders, and Peculiarities

Psychology of Collecting, The Psychology of Collecting

By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D Although one-third of the American population, roughly 107 million, collect one thing or another, far fewer are hoarders. They include only 2-3 percent of the entire ...

From Tangible to Digital: The Evolution of Collecting in the Modern Era

Antique Marketplace News, Expert Exchange, NFT, Non-Fungible Tokens, RetroCollect, The Psychology of Collecting, Vintage Living

Rare "Golden Ape" Doodle NFT Sells For $1.1 Million on January 5, 2022, to the buyer and NFT collector Pranksy. Doodle #6914—which features one-of-a-kind gold ape traits—is just one of Pranksy’s 71 Doodles within his collection of over 30,000 NFTs as of the date of this purchase.

By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. Most collectors acquire their treasures through traditional methods – purchasing from dealers or at auctions that specialize in physical items within their areas of interest ...