Noninvasive Brain Stimulation: An Overview of Available Approaches for Research in Neuroaesthetics

Abstract

Noninvasive brain stimulation methods, like transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial electrical stimulation, are largely employed in cognitive neuroscience to investigate brain–behavior relationships. This review offers an overview of mechanisms of actions of transcranial magnetic stimulation and different types of transcranial electrical stimulation and considers recent studies that have shed light on the neural underpinning of aesthetic evaluation of (visual) artworks by means of noninvasive brain stimulation. Possible future applications of noninvasive brain stimulation for research in neuroaesthetics are also discussed.

The nature of beauty: behavior, cognition, and neurobiology

“…Since there is no independent biological marker that can be used to identify neurobiological states as beautiful, all such studies rely on subjects reporting whether they experience something as beautiful. On the basis of such evaluations, scientists can ask if beauty responses are elicited by specific perceptual properties and try to chart the neural processes necessary for their generation 2,5,13,14,36 …”

“…On the basis of such evaluations, scientists can ask if beauty responses are elicited by specific perceptual properties and try to chart the neural processes necessary for their generation. 2,5,13,14,36 Over the last 150 years, influenced by the philosophical tradition described above, hundreds of behavioral studies have sought to determine which sensory features people find beautiful by systematically manipulating stimulus properties. While these studies have found some stimulus properties to be reliably associated with beauty responses in most people-for example, symmetry or facial averageness in the visual domain; [37][38][39] consonance or expectancy violations in the auditory domain [40][41][42][43] they have also revealed that beauty responses are not fixed.…”

“…With a beauty industry in perpetual expansion, and a growing concern about self‐representation on social media (e.g., many apps now include beauty filters for selfies and online meetings), the role beauty plays in human society has become of great interest to social, behavioral, and brain scientists 1 . At the same time, advances in neuroimaging methods have allowed neuroscientists to search for the biological basis of beauty appreciation 2–6 . Finally, growing evidence for complex perceptual, cognitive, and affective mechanisms involved in animal mate choice has raised questions about the role beauty plays in driving sexual selection 7–9 .…”

“…So far, however, neither psychology nor neurobiology has succeeded in showing how beauty appraisals differ from other forms of sensory appraisal. 10,11 There are several overviews of neuroscientific research on aesthetic doi: 10.1111/nyas.14524 appreciation 2,5,[12][13][14] and facial attractiveness. [15][16][17][18] But no review paper has tried to summarize what is known about beauty as a psychological and neurobiological phenomenon per se.…”

The Nature of Beauty: behavior, cognition, and neurobiology

“…So far, however, neither psychology nor neurobiology have succeeded in showing how beauty appraisals differ from other forms of sensory appraisal. 10,11 There are several overviews of neuroscientific research on aesthetic appreciation 2,5,[12][13][14] and facial attractiveness. [15][16][17][18] But no review paper has tried to summarize what is known about beauty as a psychological and neurobiological phenomenon per se.…”