Abstract
Aesthetic responses to visual art comprise multiple types of experiences, from sensation and perception to emotion and self-reflection. Moreover, aesthetic experience is highly individual, with observers varying significantly in their responses to the same artwork. Combining fMRI and behavioral analysis of individual differences in aesthetic response, we identify two distinct patterns of neural activity exhibited by different sub-networks. Activity increased linearly with observers' ratings (4-level scale) in sensory (occipito-temporal) regions. Activity in the striatum (STR) also varied linearly with ratings, with below-baseline activations for low-rated artworks. In contrast, a network of frontal regions showed a step-like increase only for the most moving artworks (“4” ratings) and non-differential activity for all others. This included several regions belonging to the “default mode network” (DMN) previously associated with self-referential mentation. Our results suggest that aesthetic experience involves the integration of sensory and emotional reactions in a manner linked with their personal relevance.
Highlights
Human beings in every culture seek out a variety of experiences which are classified as “aesthetic”—activities linked to the perception of external objects, but not to any apparent functional use these objects might have
Our results suggest that aesthetic experience involves the integration of sensory and emotional reactions in a manner linked with their personal relevance
Recent neuroimaging studies have identified several brain regions whose activation correlates with a variety of aesthetic experiences—namely locations in the anterior medial prefrontal cortex and the caudate/striatum, with several additional regions detected in some studies but not others (Blood and Zatorre, 2001; CelaConde et al, 2004; Kawabata and Zeki, 2004; Vartanian and Goel, 2004; Jacobsen et al, 2006; Di Dio and Gallese, 2009; Kirk et al, 2009; Ishizu and Zeki, 2011; Lacey et al, 2011; Salimpoor et al, 2011)
Summary
Human beings in every culture seek out a variety of experiences which are classified as “aesthetic”—activities linked to the perception of external objects, but not to any apparent functional use these objects might have. Recent neuroimaging studies have identified several brain regions whose activation correlates with a variety of aesthetic experiences—namely locations in the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (aMPFC) and the caudate/striatum, with several additional regions detected in some studies but not others (Blood and Zatorre, 2001; CelaConde et al, 2004; Kawabata and Zeki, 2004; Vartanian and Goel, 2004; Jacobsen et al, 2006; Di Dio and Gallese, 2009; Kirk et al, 2009; Ishizu and Zeki, 2011; Lacey et al, 2011; Salimpoor et al, 2011). In this study we examined more closely issues surrounding the intensity and diversity of aesthetic responses
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