Neural dissociation between computational and perceived measures of curvature

Abstract

There is substantial evidence to suggest that preference for visual curvature is a reliable phenomenon. Yet, little is known about the ways in which the encoding of curvature in the brain contributes to hedonic evaluation while participants are actively engaged in making choices about objects varying in curvature. To address this question, we reanalyzed fMRI data collected while participants made aesthetic judgments (beautiful vs. not beautiful) and approach-avoidance decisions (enter vs. exit) in relation to measures of (a) computational curvature, (b) perceived curvature, (c) perceived angularity, and (d) aesthetic pleasure in the domain of architecture. Our results show that a region in early visual cortex (BA 17) encompassing largely areas V2-V3 is sensitive to variation in computational curvature across both beauty judgments and approach-avoidance decisions, whereas a region encompassing the fusiform gyrus (BA 37) exhibits sensitivity to perceived curvature only when participants made beauty judgments. These results contribute to our understanding of the neurobiological basis of curvature preference by demonstrating that the sensitivity of the visual cortex to computational curvature is context invariant, whereas the sensitivity of the fusiform gyrus to perceived curvature varies by context.