Neural correlates of visual aesthetic appreciation: insights from non-invasive brain stimulation

Abstract

During the last decade, non-invasive brain stimulation techniques have been increasingly employed in the field of neuroaesthetics research to shed light on the possible causal role of different brain regions contributing to aesthetic appreciation. Here, I review studies that have employed transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to investigate neurocognitive mechanisms mediating visual aesthetic appreciation for different stimuli categories (faces, bodies, paintings). The review first considers studies that have assessed the possible causal contribution of cortical regions in mediating aesthetic appreciation along the visual ventral and dorsal pathways (i.e., the extrastriate body area, the motion-sensitive region V5/MT+ , the lateral occipital complex and the posterior parietal cortex). It then considers TMS and tDCS studies that have targeted premotor and motor regions, as well as other areas involved in body and facial expression processing (such as the superior temporal sulcus and the somatosensory cortex) to assess their role in aesthetic evaluation. Finally, it discusses studies that have targeted medial and dorsolateral prefrontal regions leading to significant changes in aesthetic appreciation for both biological stimuli (faces and bodies) and artworks. Possible mechanisms mediating stimulation effects on aesthetic judgments are discussed. A final section considers both methodological limitations of the reviewed studies (including levels of statistical power and the need for further replication) and the future potential for non-invasive brain stimulation to significantly contribute to the understanding of the neural bases of visual aesthetic experiences.

Universality and superiority in preference for chromatic composition of art paintings

“…Since the aesthetic experience or perception of beauty is often associated with artwork 2 , the underlying brain mechanisms in the aesthetic process for artwork have been discussed extensively 3 – 6 . More recently, the field of neuroaesthetics has grown and expanded to involve non‑invasive brain stimulation 7 to investigate the brain–behavior causal relationship and the computational aesthetic approach 8 , 9 to bridge the gap between experimental and theoretical studies. Although studies conducted to date have generally suggested that various regions along the visual dorsal and ventral pathways are involved in the aesthetic experience, no unified view has been reached 10 , 11 .…”

Functional specificity and neural integration in the aesthetic appreciation of artworks with implied motion

“…For millennia, questions concerning art and aesthetic experiences have been debated (Danto, 1964;Bell, 1914;Collingwood, 1958;Else, 1938) and continue to drive real-life behaviour via attendance to museums, galleries and live performances. Neuroaesthetics research has identified the involvement of widespread brain networks spanning visual, motor affective and cognitive information processing units during aesthetic judgments (Boccia et al, 2016;Brown et al, 2011;Cattaneo, 2019Cattaneo, , 2020Chatterjee, 2003;García-Prieto et al, 2016;Kirsch et al, 2016;Pearce et al, 2016). However, current understanding of how the brain constructs aesthetic experiences is in its infancy.…”

Dissociating embodiment and emotional reactivity in motor responses to artworks

“…This points to what has been referred to as "Cirque du Soleil effect", where we may enjoy witnessing the spectacular movements of talented performers that are more "unlike us" and, thus, do not belong and cannot be incorporated into our sensorimotor repertoire (Cross, Kirsch, Ticini, & Schütz-Bosbach, 2011;Kirsch, Urgesi, & Cross, 2015). Converging evidence for such an "unlike me" aspect of aesthetic experience has come from studies using brain stimulation methods to modulate activation of motor areas during aesthetic experience (reviewed in Cattaneo, 2020;Kirsch, Urgesi, & Cross, 2015). Indeed, these studies have shown that lowering motor activation with inhibitory stimulation of fronto-parietal motor areas may be associated to greater aesthetic appreciation of natural stimuli, such as dance movies (Calvo-Merino, Urgesi, Orgs, Aglioti, & Haggard, 2010) and static or dynamic body postures (Cazzato, Mele, & Urgesi, 2016), artifacts (Ticini, Urgesi, & Kotz, 2017)() or artworks (Nakamura & Kawabata, 2015).…”