Beauty, Art, and the Brain

Have you ever wondered why or how we become so captivated by the world around us? From art, to music, or to the beauty of nature, how do our brains perceive how these events make us feel? The study of such phenomena is known as neuroaesthetics. Neuroscience and psychology are used to understand how our sensory and motor areas respond when experiencing aesthetic events. Termed in the 1990s by Semir Zeki and recently growing in popularity, this field encompasses both the inner workings of the brain as well as an individual’s life experience and interest in art.

According to Brattico and Pearce (2013), the way individuals develop their affinity towards an aesthetic is dependent on many factors, including their previous knowledge on art style and the value the art holds to them, as well as the potentially conflicting emotions they may feel (dissonance) when viewing the art style alongside experiencing the art event as a whole. So, not only is our motor cortex being used, but also our emotional pathways.

By using our senses, we intake information from the world and use our cognition to perceive the aesthetic event (Magsamen, 2019). The physical parts of our brains being used in aesthetic perception include the cortical region such as the default mode network, salience network, and central executive network (Thomson & Jaque, 2017). Each of these areas is involved in multiple functions and has unique roles. The default mode is used in thinking about the self and others, the salience network gathers sensory stimuli to create emotional reactions, and the central executive network is responsible for functions like working memory and decision-making. By using all these different neural networks and their associated brain areas, we are able to form aesthetic experiences when experiencing works of art. 

Alongside these brain structures, we have a reward circuit that lets us experience positive emotions through a rush of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. These neurotransmitters can support our emotions while experiencing forms of art, to let us know it was a positive experience and creating our likeness to certain forms of art. 

Different forms of art also exist, which warrants the question of whether the same neural networks and brain areas are being used. Dancers are less studied, but it’s still evident how they take the sensory input of music and physically portray how it makes them feel through using various body movements and thus creating an aesthetic event (Thomson & Jaque, 2017). In this particular art form, mirror neurons are also being studied to see how they activate when watching others perform. Stronger activation of these neurons is observed when dancers or live performers watch familiar performances that belong to their own art form. These studies further show how neuroaesthetics encompasses numerous brain areas across many different art forms.

When thinking of neuroaesthetics, we often think that the experience has to do with the emotions that are fed by an event of artistic beauty. But not every experience has to do with beauty, yet we can still be aesthetically moved by it. For example, a painting may not exactly be as beautiful as The Artist’s Garden at Giverny by Claude Monet, but it can still emotionally move us and intrigue us perhaps in other realms, such as reminding us of a prior experience or getting mesmerised by certain brush strokes. Beauty may also be defined differently according to various cultures and upbringings, which creates a discourse on what beauty really is. As such, aesthetic experiences cannot be generalized as one form.  Many researchers assume that what they experience as aesthetic is experienced by everyone, which in fact may not be true, as everyone can develop different preferences and attitudes towards art (Conway & Rehding, 2013). By generalizing the way our brains function in neuroaesthetics events, there is a danger of creating categories of right or wrong on how our brains should be functioning (Ball, 2013). Thus, neuroaesthetics faces some criticism from the scientific community on its legitimacy and requires more insight. 

Neuroaesthetics is a fascinating and growing field encompassed by various forms of art, culture, individuality, and complex neuroscience. As mentioned by Conway and Rehding (2013), a big emphasis is placed on beauty in arts and its place in neuroaesthetics. Further thought needs to be placed into the objectivity of defining neuroaesthetics across different demographics and cultures. Perhaps the next time you visit the AGO, you’ll be prompted to reflect on neuroaesthetics and ponder on why you’re moved by certain paintings, sculptures, or exhibits and why others just aren’t as captivating.