The Neurobiology of Processing Art

Abstract

Over the last two decades, neuroscientific research has considerably advanced our understanding of the neurobiological processes that underlie our interactions with artworks. Through a combination of behavioural and neuroimaging methods, experiments have identified sensory, perceptual, emotional and cognitive processes that make important contributions to our psychological experiences of art, in particular the emergence of aesthetic preferences. Here we conduct a selective review of this literature that will provide readers without a background in the neurosciences a first introduction into what we have learned so far. Our review is organised in three parts: First we describe research that has examined neurobiologicalprocesses involved in the sensation and perception of art. Next, we survey findings that cast light on the neural mechanisms underlying our emotional responses to art, including the contribution of the mesocorticolimbic reward circuitry to the computation of aesthetic liking. Third, we outline how cognitive processes associated with expectations, knowledge and expertise significantly influence our response to works of art. We conclude the chapter by discussing how the experience of art relies on an interdependence of sensation, emotion, and cognition, and how the major challenge of future neuroaesthetics research lies in improving our understanding of the complex interplay of these neural processes.