Art and brain coevolution.

The competence for appreciating beauty appears to be a human universal trait. This fact points out to a phylogenetically derived capacity that, somehow, evolved by means of natural selection. To detail how this evolutionary process took place is difficult to determine, because appreciating beauty is an elusive capacity, impossible to be detected in the fossil record. However, efforts have been made to understand the main characteristics of such competence, particularly by means of the advances of neuroaesthetics. Here, we examine some of the results obtained in experimental research to identify neural correlations of the appreciation of beauty, as well as archaeological and paleoanthropological proofs of the relationship existing between production of artistic objects and evolution of the human brain.

Not all about sex: neural and biobehavioral functions of human dance.

This paper provides an integrative review of neuroscientific and biobehavioral evidence about the effects of dance on the individual across cultural differences. Dance moves us, and many derive aesthetic pleasure from it. However, in addition-and beyond aesthetics-we propose that dance has noteworthy, deeper neurobiological effects. We first summarize evidence that illustrates the centrality of dance to human life indirectly from archaeology, comparative psychology, developmental psychology, and cross-cultural psychology. Second, we review empirical evidence for six neural and biobehavioral functions of dance: (1) attentional focus/flow, (2) basic emotional experiences, (3) imagery, (4) communication, (5) self-intimation, and (6) social cohesion. We discuss the reviewed evidence in relation to current debates in the field of empirical enquiry into the functions of human dance, questioning the positions that dance is (1) just for pleasure, (2) all about sex, (3) just for mood management and well-being, and (4) for experts only. Being a young field, evidence is still piecemeal and inconclusive. This review aims to take a step toward a systematization of an emerging avenue of research: a neuro- and biobehavioral science of dance.

The role of the lateral occipital cortex in aesthetic appreciation of representational and abstract paintings: a TMS study.

Neuroimaging studies of aesthetic appreciation have shown that activity in the lateral occipital area (LO)-a key node in the object recognition pathway-is modulated by the extent to which visual artworks are liked or found beautiful. However, the available evidence is only correlational. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the putative causal role of LO in the aesthetic appreciation of paintings. In our first experiment, we found that interfering with LO activity during aesthetic appreciation selectively reduced evaluation of representational paintings, leaving appreciation of abstract paintings unaffected. A second experiment demonstrated that, although the perceived clearness of the images overall positively correlated with liking, the detrimental effect of LO TMS on aesthetic appreciation does not owe to TMS reducing perceived clearness. Taken together, our findings suggest that object-recognition mechanisms mediated by LO play a causal role in aesthetic appreciation of representational art.

A norming study and library of 203 dance movements.

Dance stimuli have been used in experimental studies of (i) how movement is processed in the brain; (ii) how affect is perceived from bodily movement; and (iii) how dance can be a source of aesthetic experience. However, stimulus materials across--and even within--these three domains of research have varied considerably. Thus, integrative conclusions remain elusive. Moreover, concerns have been raised that the movements selected for such stimuli are qualitatively too different from the actual art form dance, potentially introducing noise in the data. We propose a library of dance stimuli which responds to the stimuli requirements and design criteria of these three areas of research, while at the same time respecting a dance art-historical perspective, offering greater ecological validity as compared with previous dance stimulus sets. The stimuli are 5-6 s long video clips, selected from genuine ballet performances. Following a number of coding experiments, the resulting stimulus library comprises 203 ballet dance stimuli coded in (i) 25 qualitative and quantitative movement variables; (ii) affective valence and arousal; and (iii) the aesthetic qualities beauty, liking, and interest. An Excel spreadsheet with these data points accompanies this manuscript, and the stimuli can be obtained from the authors upon request.

Towards a framework for the study of the neural correlates of aesthetic preference.

Aiming to provide a tentative framework for the study of the neural correlates of aesthetic preference, we review three recent neuroimaging studies carried out with the purpose of locating brain activity associated with decisions about the beauty of visual stimuli (Cela-Conde et al., 2004; Kawabata and Zeki, 2004; Vartanian and Goel, 2004). We find that the results of the three studies are not in line with previous neuropsychological data. Moreover, there are no coincidences among their results. However, when they are mapped on to Chatterjee's (2003) neuropsychological model of aesthetic preference it becomes clear that neuroimaging data are not contradictory, but complementary, and their interpretation is enriched. The results of these studies suggest that affective processes have an important role in aesthetic preference, and that they are integrated with cognitive processes to reach a decision regarding the beauty of visual stimuli. Future studies must aim to clarify whether certain methodological procedures are better suited to study any of the particular cognitive operations involved in aesthetic preference, and ascertain the extent to which the proposed framework is compatible with the aesthetic appreciation of musical stimuli.