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Neuroesthetics (or neuroaesthetics) is a relatively recent subdiscipline of empirical aesthetics. Empirical aesthetics takes a scientific approach to the study of aesthetic perceptions of art and music. Neuroaesthetics received its formal definition in 2002 as the scientific study of the neural bases for the contemplation and creation of a work of art . Neuroesthetics uses the techniques of neuroscience in order to explain and understand the esthetic experiences at the neurological level. However, the topic attacts scholars from many disciplines including aestheticians, art historians, and psychologists.

Overview

Neuroesthetics is an attempt to combine neurological research with aesthetics by investigating the experience of beauty and appreciation of art on the level of brain functions and mental states.

Current Approaches for Research

The current challenge is to highlight processes that distinguish perception geared toward aesthetic experience from perception geared toward object identification in everyday perception.

Creation/Re-creation of Art

The first approach relies on observation of subjects viewing art samples and inspection of the mechanism of vision, with the aim of inducing general rules about aesthetics. This is the most popular approach to neuroesthetics and is championed by its godfather Semir Zeki.

Structure and Function of the Creative Brain

It is by understanding the functioning of the creative brain that we begin to understand the concept of the creative mind. The second approach aims at establishing the link between certain brain areas and artistic activity. The followers of this approach either study artists with neural problems, discerning between their output before and after the onset of the problem, or inspect the works of artists who have unusually high brain activation in certain areas.

Brain Imaging and Aesthetic Enjoyment

Studies on these topics have included neuropsychological tests, physiological measures,and brain imaging.

fMRI

The aims of these studies are to establish the functional neuroanatomical correlation of aesthetic processing of abstract and representational images.

Top Down and Bottom Up Processes

A fundamental methodological crux for all of these approaches is whether the aesthetic judgments are perceived as bottom-up processes driven by neural primitives or as top-down processes with high-level correlates.

Artistic Creation / Re-creation

When viewing a piece of artwork, perception involves the viewer’s role in participation. The viewer mentally re-creates the work of art which is why the process of viewing a work of art can be linked with the creation of art.

Memory Retrieval

Recognition of various features, both subjects and colors, involve the retrieval of long term and conscious, short term working memory. This gives the artwork meaning due to reasoning. This contemplation involves both top down and bottom up processes working with the limbic system.

Future Directions

New experimental designs are necessary to take into account different manifestations of aesthetic experience.