Neuroscience has always been viewed as an interdisciplinary field, merging multiple fields of science with the humanities to create a unique discipline. Neuroaesthetics is a fairly new category of neuroscience research that attempts to understand how the human brain responds to art. It relies on the use of brain imaging and neuropsychological behaviors in order to understand what emotions are invoked from our brain when viewing art, music, food, etc. The objects that humans see as “aesthetic” may play important roles in not only our ability to appreciate art, but in mate selection, consumption, and morals. Neuroaesthetics potentially has therapeutic uses, in that we can use a new understanding of beauty in correlation to our brains reactions to it, to induce changes in behavior, through aesthetic experiences.
To understand the field of neuroaesthetics properly, it’s vital to understand the aesthetic triad, a model explaining how the brain interprets art based on three neural systems.
The first system is Emotion-valuation. In simple words, this system shows how the pleasure we get from “art” goes to the brain’s reward circuitry, in the same way that food or sex taps into the reward circuitry. A study done in 2009, yielded results that showed that attractive faces activate the fusiform face area (FFA) and parts of the ventral striatum. The purpose of the FFA in the brain is mainly facial perception and recognizing faces, while the ventral striatum is associated with processing rewards and drive. Activation of these brain regions implies that looking at “appealing” faces activates our reward circuitry, creating a sense of fulfillment in our brain, and contributing to the “aesthetic” experience.
The next system is Sensory-motor. This system involves the engagement of the parts of the brain that deal with sensation and perception. A recent meta-analysis was conducted of 15 fMRI studies where subjects viewed paintings and their brain activity was recorded. The results showed that the viewing of paintings activated a number of structures in the brain, specifically in the visual cortex, such as the lingual gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. The main purpose of the lingual gyrus is to process visual information, particularly spatial navigation and recognizing letters, while the main role of the fusiform gyrus is high-level complex visual processing, such as face and object perception. We can attribute the brain system that’s activated to the many stimuli located in paintings; features such as shape, color, dimension, etc. Viewing paintings with action increases brain activity, suggesting that the motor system is employed when viewing specific art. Additionally, further analysis revealed that the visual motion area MT+ (used for visual motion) was activated when subjects viewed dynamic paintings with an air of movement, such as Van Gogh’s paintings.
Van Gogh’s Painting, Wheat Field with Cypresses
The last system is Meaning-knowledge. A common theory is that meaning and knowledge have significant influences on aesthetic perception; this may be why original paintings are valued much higher than copies, and forgeries are not only frowned upon, but seen as severe crimes. Building upon this, the implication is that our involvement in art is much more complex than just looking at it, and even knowing the title could impact aesthetic experience in the brain. A study recently conducted showed subjects paintings with titles of three different categories: symbolically matched, non-matching, and untitled paintings (as a control group). Results showed that subjects liked semantically matching titles or untitled paintings better than non-matching titles. Another study investigated context and its effect on aesthetic experience of viewing art. Subjects were shown art that was labeled as either from a European museum or computer generated. The results showed that subjects were more likely to see the paintings as aesthetically pleasing if they believed the art was from a museum compared to computer generated. Believing that a painting from a museum also increased activity in the temporal pole, meaning contextual information can lead to visual pleasure by viewing well known paintings.
According to the triad discussed above, the suggestion is that aesthetic experiences bring forth mental states according to the brain region deemed active during an experience. Although more is not known regarding neuroaesthetics, our understanding of it is being developed as more research, and refinement of current theories, is being done. Findings coming out of this field are constantly cutting across a range of disciplines, as well as focusing on more complex branches of the brain, such as decision making, perception, emotion, etc. Most significantly, findings from this field of research can not only deepen our understanding of the biology behind our relationship with art, but can also use that understanding to investigate deeper facets of the human experience.
Citations
Chatterjee, A., & Vartanian, O. (2016). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1369(1), 172–194. doi:10.1111/nyas.13035
Magsamen, S. (2019). Your Brain on Art: The Case for Neuroaesthetics. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7075503/
Dutch, V. van G. (1889). Vincent van Gogh: Wheat Field with Cypresses. Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535