The differential power of extraneous influences to modify aesthetic judgments of biological and artifactual stimuli

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we have enquired into the neural activity which correlates with the experience of beauty aroused by abstract paintings consisting of arbitrary assemblies of lines and colours. During the imaging experiments, 18 subjects viewed and rated 120 images of abstract paintings according to how beautiful they perceived them to be. There was a low agreement on the aesthetic classification of these paintings among participants. In contrast, a re-analysis of behavioural data from our previous study on face beauty revealed a much stronger inter-subject agreement for faces compared with abstract art. Representational similarity analysis (RSA) revealed that the experience of beauty when viewing abstract paintings correlated with the emergence of decodable patterns of activity in visual areas implicated in the processing of lines and colours (V1 through V4). Additionally, a parametric univariate analysis revealed higher activity in medial frontal cortex with higher aesthetic appeal. Both univariate and multivariate analyses of the imaging experiments gave broadly similar results to those obtained in previous studies on facial beauty. With abstract art, it was the involvement of visual areas implicated in the processing of lines and colours while with faces it was of visual areas implicated in the processing of faces. Both categories of aesthetic experience correlated with increased activity in medial frontal cortex. We conclude that, as with the experience of beauty in human faces, it is fundamentally the co-operative activity in these two geographically and functionally distant areas of the brain that is the basis for the experience of beauty. Further, this co-operation is enabled by “experience dependent” functional connections, in the sense that currently the existence and high specificity of these connections can only be demonstrated during certain aesthetic experiences. This does not exclude a role in aesthetic experiences for other areas which our imaging experiments have also revealed. We also conclude that the sensory areas of the visual brain have the additional role of participating in the selection of stimuli according to certain significant configurations which make them aesthetically appealing to the observer.

Section: Biological Vs Artifactual Beautysupporting

confidence: 92%

The neural determinants of abstract beauty

Rasche

Beyh

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Hence, if activity in mOFC is determined by a specific pattern in the sensory areas, it may be restricted to one of the face perceptive areas or may involve several, thus necessitating the screening of many face perceptive areas for specific patterns. The second difficulty is that, in spite of a general agreement about the aesthetic status of a face when it is very beautiful (Bignardi et al, 2020; Vessel et al, 2018), there is no consensus about what critical “objective” features constitute the basis for that agreement. Among the features considered necessary for rendering a face beautiful are certain proportions and symmetries, as well as exact, mathematically defined, relations between parts, as enshrined in particular in the golden ratio.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neural determinants of beauty

Yang

Formuli

et al. 2021

Eur J of Neuroscience

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The perception of faces correlates with activity in a number of brain areas, but only when a face is perceived as beautiful is the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) also engaged. Here, we enquire whether it is the emergence of a particular pattern of neural activity in face perceptive areas during the experience of a face as beautiful that determines whether there is, as a correlate, activity in mOFC. Seventeen subjects of both genders viewed and rated facial stimuli according to how beautiful they perceived them to be while the activity in their brains was imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging. A univariate analysis revealed parametrically scaled activity within several areas, including the occipital face area (OFA), fusiform face area (FFA) and the cuneus; the strength of activity in these areas correlated with the declared intensity of the aesthetic experience of faces; multivariate analyses showed strong patterns of activation in the FFA and the cuneus and weaker patterns in the OFA and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). The mOFC was only engaged when specific patterns of activity emerged in these areas. A psychophysiological interaction analysis with mOFC as the seed area revealed the involvement of the right FFA and the right OFA. We conjecture that it is the collective specific pattern‐based activity in these face perceptive areas, with activity in the mOFC as a correlate, that constitutes the neural basis for the experience of facial beauty, bringing us a step closer to understanding the neural determinants of aesthetic experience.

“…The supposition of greater agreement between individuals in judgments of biological beauty receives support from previous behavioural studies (Bignardi et al, 2020;Vessel et al, 2019) which still leaves us with the problem of determining what critical feature it is that constitutes the basis for this agreement. It is an axiomatic belief dating back to the time of Plato that, among the necessary features that render a face beautiful, are certain proportions and symmetries, in addition to what some consider to be exact, mathematically defined, relations between parts, as enshrined in particular in the golden ratio; but there has been no unanimity of views on this (Alam et al, 2015;Cellucci, 2017;Hönn & Göz, 2007;Jones & Hill 1993;Swift & Remington, 2011).…”

Section: The Determinants Of Facial Beautymentioning

confidence: 88%

“…The stimulus set consisted of 120 photographs of faces used in our previous studies (Bignardi et al, 2020), supplemented by other faces compiled from the internet. Based on these ratings, 40 faces (20 male) were selected to represent each of the three conditions -the "very beautiful", "average", and "not beautiful" conditions, respectively.…”

Section: Stimulimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address this question experimentally, we restricted ourselves to studying one category of beautiful stimuli, namely that falling into the biological category (Zeki & Chen, 2020) and, within that category, confined ourselves further to studying the neurobiology underlying the experience of facial beauty. Even such a restriction presents considerable difficulties because, in spite of a general agreement about the aesthetic status of a face when it is very beautiful (Bignardi et al, 2020;Vessel et al, 2019), there is no consensus about what critical "objective" feature constitutes the basis for this agreement. Among the features considered necessary for rendering a face beautiful are certain proportions and symmetries, in addition to what some have considered to be exact, mathematically defined, relations between parts, as enshrined in particular in the golden ration; but there has been no unanimity of views on this (Alam et al, 2015;Cellucci, 2017;Hönn & Göz, 2007;Jones & Hill 1993;Swift & Remington, 2011).…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Neural Determinants of Beauty

Yang

Formuli

et al. 2021

Preprint

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What are the conditions that determine whether the medial orbito-frontal cortex (mOFC), in which activity correlates with the experience of beauty derived from different sources, becomes co-active with sensory areas of the brain during the experience of sensory beauty? We addressed this question by studying the neural determinants of facial beauty. The perception of faces correlates with activity in a number of brain areas, but only when a face is perceived as beautiful is the mOFC also engaged. The enquiry thus revolved around the question of whether a particular pattern of activity, within or between areas implicated in face perception, emerges when a face is perceived as beautiful, and which determines that there is, as a correlate, activity in mOFC. 17 subjects of both genders viewed and rated facial stimuli according to how beautiful they perceived them to be while the activity in their brains was imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A univariate analysis revealed parametrically scaled activity within several areas in which the strength of activity correlated with the declared intensity of the aesthetic experience of faces; the list included the mOFC and two core areas strongly implicated in the perception of faces - the occipital face area (OFA), fusiform face area (FFA)- and, additionally, the cuneus. Multivariate analyses, which reveal the more fine-grained distribution of activity in brain areas, revealed strong and distinctive patterns of activation in the FFA and the cuneus and weaker ones in the OFA and posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). It is only when distinctive patterns emerged in these areas that there was co-activation of the mOFC, in which a strong pattern of activity also emerged during the experience of facial beauty. A psychophysiological interaction analysis with mOFC as the seed area revealed the involvement of the right FFA and the right OFA, but only when faces were experienced as beautiful. We conjecture that these collective patterns of activity constitute the neural basis for the experience of facial beauty, bringing us a step closer to understanding the neural determinants of aesthetic experience.