To think about the brain, you have to use the brain. Which evokes the profound question that yogis and gurus an sages have been asking all along: Who is thinking that thought?

If your circuits still work after that, you'll be excited to know about Brainwave NYC, a festival around the city that aims to ask "how art, music, and meditation affect the brain." Answers are in the form of "more than a hundred public events, ranging from an exhibition of contemporary art and a cinema series to cutting-edge concerts, performances, talks, and panels."

The events, which started earlier this month and reach into April, range from visionary art to the "psychobiology of meditation" to a family yoga class and are sponsored by orgs diverse as The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, CUNY, and The Museum of Natural History, and more.

Here's a very small sampling of the incredibly rich brain pickings (condensed from the Brainwave site). For more info go to:
Brainwavenyc.org or The Rubin Museum of Art (RMA).

Lou Reed: Hudson River Wind Meditations
Lou Reed introduces his latest meditation compositions.
RMA Wednesday, January 30, 7 p.m. $25

The Tibetan Book of the Dead
What happens in our brains as we die, from the Tibetan Buddhist perspective. With Dr. Ramon Prats.
RMA Saturday, February 9, 4 p.m., $15

Bokara Legendre in conversation with Jean Houston, one of the principal founders of the Human Potential Movement.
RMA Wednesday, February 13, 6:30 p.m. $15

The Interfaith Experience
With visionary artist Alex Grey. This conversation takes place in the galleries during RMA's weekly K2 Lounge on Friday nights.
RMA Friday, February 22, 7 p.m., Free

Family Yoga
Action, stillness, and more action! Train your mind to control your body by playing fun yoga games.
RMA Saturday, February 23, 2 p.m., Free with Museum admission

The Neuroscience of The Groove
Quartet for Percussion and Brain Waves
Premiere of a live performance/experiment with drummers and electroencephalographs.
Science & the Arts, CUNY Graduate Center, Monday, March 24, 6:30 p.m., FREE

Train to Happiness
French biologist-turned-Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard in conversation with Mind and Life Institute pioneer Bennett Shapiro on their work with His Highness The Dalai Lama on cognitive function.
RMA Monday, April 14, 7 p.m., $25

Raghavan Iyer: 300 Curries
What effect do spices have on the way we see and taste the world? Followed by a tasting.
RMA Wednesday, April 16, 7:30 p.m., $25

(I'm extra-psyched about these events because I spent five months interviewing almost two dozen brain experts for this recent article on enhancing your brain function.)