Neuroaesthetics
The scientific examination of how we appreciate art, and more specifically, beauty.
Imagine, you look at a piece of art….you see a large red splotch and feel an alertness within yourself. Next you feel sadness, and think if perhaps the red represents bloodshed and loss. This reaction and thought process may happen in less than a minute, but it reveals a complex neuroprocess that is very interesting to study. The study of this type of brain function is called Neuroaesthetics.
Neuroaesthetics became an important field of scientific study in the 1990’s. Research in this discipline relies on maging processes, in order to study the reaction of the brain when presented with various stimuli. These stimuli are generally separated into 3 different categorties: people, settings/atmoshperes, or objects like works of art. And so, scientists have found that the brain produces different responces to these different types of stimuli. For example, the furisiform face area of the brain responds to portraits or depictions of people, while the parahippocampal area of the brain responds to landscapes.
Scientists have further broken down the brain’s response to art into 3 categories, which together are called the “Aesthetic Triad”. This includes a sensory-motor response in the brain, during which the visual characteristics of art are analyzed. In art history terms, this is part of the formal (as opposed to contextual) analysis of the art. There is also an emotion-valuation response that takes place in the orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, which is exactly what it sounds like - an emotional evaluation. This is what allows you to feel sadness, happiness, or any feeling in between when admiring art. Finally, there is also a semantic-knowledge element which engages the medial and lateral temporal cortices. This is perhaps the most interesting reaction—and is unique to every person. This is when the art is filtered through their unique worldview, knowledge base, and memories. With the comination of all of these elements, we are able to analyze the visual form of the art, how it makes us feel, and the meaning of it within the context of our own unique experiences. Following thiese separate reactions, mirror electrons connect all of these sections of the brain, allowing us to empathetically. experience all of these reactions simultaneously.
“Recent electroencephalography (EEG) evidence suggests that such sensory and contextual integration occurs very rapidly, within 200–300ms of seeing an artwork. ”
The context that art is presented in has also been shown to alter the neuro-response of subjects in experiements. For example, when subjects are presented with art that is specifically from a museum it causes the ventral striatum and orbitofrontal cortex to be engaged. This reaction was not the same when subjects were presented with non-museum art, for example ,computer-generated art. This difference in reaction due to contextual knowledge also causes a change in subjects presented with original art versus a copy. The copy during experimentation created activity in the frontopolar cortex, but the original piece did so in the orbitofrontal region. From this, we can see that the way in which art is presented to us is highly influential in the way our brains’ respond to the art itself.
Finally, it is important to mention that scientists have varying views on the field of neuroaesthetics, its applications, and its validity. Nevertheless, as we as humans endeavor to further our understanding of the human condition, there can be no doubt that the arts are an integral part. Perhaps one day we will be able to use science to answer questions like — Does art improve our lives? Is it necessary for humans to produce art? and Why do we continue to make art?
Works Cited
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/11/10/neuroaesthetics-cover/
https://neuroaesthetics.med.upenn.edu/assets/user-content/documents/publications/currentopinions.pdf
https://scienceindesign.com/neuroaesthetics-interior-design-guide/#3
https://oecs.mit.edu/pub/tnwxt05u/
https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613%2814%2900075-8
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A special thank to all the scientists and reasearchers in this field. Please look into their research if you are interested, And I always want to make sure my sources for these articles are easily accessible and transparent. I am merely seeking to learn about and share the research of experts with others.