Visualizing Dementia with DALL-E

In an effort to transcend traditional narratives around dementia, I turned to DALL-E, an AI model known for transforming textual descriptions into vivid images.

This blog post serves as a visual exploration, a series of AI-generated images showing the relationship between pollution and dementia. They also serve capture the impact these have on one's sense of self and identity — bringing to light the unseen dimensions of this complex condition.

My goal was to test DALL-E's ability to create visualizations around abstract concepts — particularly the intersection of biomedical explanations, environmental causes, and phenomenological narratives related to dementia.

Watercolor painting of an older individual with a reflective expression. As the image progresses towards the right, the person's features start to disintegrate and transform into wisps of smoke, blending into a smog-filled atmosphere.

Watercolor artwork depicting an elderly person deep in thought. As we move rightwards in the scene, the figure begins to fade, turning into ethereal smoke tendrils, symbolizing the transient nature of life amidst environmental challenges.

Watercolor artwork depicting a person enveloped by a haze of pollution. Their spirit-like essence appears to be gently separating from their body, symbolizing a disconnect from the self due to environmental factors.

Impressionist painting of an older individual, captured with soft brush strokes and vivid colors. As the canvas progresses, the figure's form starts to dissolve, turning into delicate swirls of smoke, blending seamlessly with a hazy backdrop.

Watercolor painting of a radiant child on the left, filled with vibrant hues. As the image progresses towards the right, the child's features transition into a melancholic older version, with colors gradually fading to muted and desaturated tones, symbolizing the passage of time and the impact of pollution.

Watercolor artwork of a child with a hopeful gaze. The scene transitions to reveal an older, introspective version of him, surrounded by a misty and polluted backdrop, emphasizing the passage of time and the toll of environmental decay.

Watercolor painting of a gleeful child with a radiant smile. As the image transitions, the child's features blend into an older, melancholic version of him. The elder's expression carries a weight of sadness, with the surrounding environment becoming increasingly hazy and smoky, symbolizing the toll of pollution.

Illustration of a grand, intricately designed scale. On one side rests a spider in the middle of a detailed web, symbolizing the biomedical model. On the other side, various icons represent sociocultural, economic, and environmental factors. The background shows a faded silhouette of an individual with dementia, emphasizing their central importance in this balance.

Vector art of a large web with a spider at its center. Slowly, from the edges, the web is being unraveled and transformed into threads that weave together images of cities, families, nature, and economic symbols. The transformation illustrates the shift from a purely biomedical view to incorporating sociocultural and environmental aspects.

Impressionist oil painting showcasing neurofibrillary tangles and β-amyloid plaques. The intricacies of these brain features are depicted with soft brush strokes and a harmonious color palette. As the viewer delves deeper into the painting, a complex environmental backdrop emerges, featuring urban landscapes, industrial scenes, and familial gatherings, symbolizing the social causes and influences on dementia.

Impressionist oil painting where neurofibrillary tangles and β-amyloid plaques take the foreground, painted with a blend of moody blues and purples. Behind these structures, a vivid and detailed environmental scene unfolds, illustrating bustling cities, serene nature, and moments of human interaction, all hinting at the multifaceted social factors contributing to dementia.

For context on the next two images — here are snippets from the paper I had been writing on pollution and dementia:

As we collectively become aware of the environmental hazards as both precipitating and perpetuating disease, another disease has come into focus: Dementia. Historically, dementia has been understood and studied at an individual level through a biomedical model. Pathology rooted in the brain — a result of misfolded and misplaced proteins. This epistemological approach, rooted in biomedical explanations, has traditionally been viewed as more valid. However, this focus is myopic. While it is not invalid, it is incomplete […] Disease as a function of social conditions remains controversial in spaces that center proximate risk factors. It has been nearly two decades since Krieger questioned the prevailing explanatory model for disease, one that seeks out a “putative spider” around which the entire “web” is spun. This paper aims to upend the prevailing narrative, not to disprove biomedical models, but to bring sociocultural, economic, and environmental variables into view. By “balancing the scales” this author hopes to center the individual with dementia within a more complete framework. The reframing of the disease in the previous sentence is intentional. By decentralizing the disease, it allows us to re-center the individual, their lived experience, and — critically — their social and environmental exposures. This is not a political or moral action on the author’s part: the framing ensures the focus does not deviate from the social contributions to the individual.

Create an abstract image visualizing the concept of 'Multiple causation' in epidemiology. The central focus should be on a metaphorical 'spider', symbolizing overarching systemic factors, positioned amidst a web representing individual factors affecting health and disease. Surrounding the web, include visual elements that allude to biological evolution, adaptation, and social factors contributing to disease. Ensure that the image invokes a sense of complexity and interconnectedness, illustrating the need for an 'ecosocial framework' that integrates both biological and social aspects to understand health patterns in populations.

Create a conceptual illustration that represents the 'web of causation' metaphor in epidemiology, with a focus on identifying the 'spider' or systemic factors that influence health and disease. The image should depict a complex web, highlighting individual factors, and incorporate symbols or elements related to biological evolution, adaptation, and social determinants of health. The overall tone of the image should encourage thought and discussion on integrating various perspectives within an 'ecosocial framework', to achieve a holistic understanding of health and disease patterns in populations.