Intro
september 20, 2024
we have long known that art and aesthetics have the ability to impact our lives -from the everyday to the profound
but it’s not until very recently that we’ve been able to measure that impact
When it comes to design we create for our audience, we create for our user, ultimately we largely create at the service of humans.
Today designers are easily able to justify functional decisions while aesthetic choices are still largely deemed as subjective, superlative, or having 'little effect' on the human's experience. While most designers will agree that's simply not true, we have very little research or evidence we can point to that can help justify aesthetic choices.
To be clear, aesthetic (non-functional) design choices does not necessarily equal or result in an aesthetic experience but it certainly contributes to it.
My personal belief is that it’s unlikely any singular aesthetic choice in design would result in physiological or psycho-physiological change. Present research indicates that Design which has had a measurable impact our physical and mental state are often ones that can be uniquely classified as an aesthetic experience.
One might ask, ‘If we're concerned with physiological responses why spend time on exploring the 'Neuro' of NeuroAesthetics?’
Before our heart-rate, pupil dialation, etc respond to stimuli it is first processed in the brain. Some refer to this phenomenon as ‘Embodied Cognition’
Embodied cognition: autonomic nervous system interprets external stimuli and governs to our heart rate, blood pressure, and other haptic mechanisms
“We have in a limited biological context, namely that we know that aesthetic experience correlates with activity in medial orbital frontal cortex regardless of its source.” -Semir Zeki
what is a neuroaesthetic experience?
While there are many differing definitions of Neuroaesthetic experience this is what I've surmised:
Multidimensional and integrative perception of art, design, or aesthetic phenomena that engages various neural mechanisms and cognitive processes in the brain. It involves the interaction between sensory perception, emotional response, and cognitive interpretation, and biological response.
when art moves you
“Although each type of experience activates different combinations of areas in the brain, the overlap always occurs in the medial orbital frontal cortex.” -Zeki
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC):
The prefrontal cortex, particularly the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), plays a crucial role in processing reward and pleasure associated with aesthetic experiences.
Anterior Insula:
The anterior insula is involved in emotional responses and empathy. It becomes active when individuals experience strong aesthetic emotions such as admiration, awe, or pleasure in response to art or beauty.
Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC):
The anterior cingulate cortex is associated with cognitive control, attention, and emotional processing. It plays a role in mediating the emotional and cognitive aspects of aesthetic experiences.
Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC):
The medial prefrontal cortex is involved in self-referential processing and personal relevance. Activation in the mPFC suggests that aesthetic experiences often involve a sense of personal connection or relevance.
Visual Cortex (Occipital Lobe):
The primary visual cortex (V1) and other visual processing areas in the occipital lobe are activated when individuals perceive visual beauty in art, nature, or design. Visual stimuli are processed here before higher-level aesthetic judgments are made.
Amygdala:
The amygdala is responsible for processing emotions, including fear and pleasure. It becomes active during aesthetic experiences that evoke strong emotional responses, such as viewing emotionally charged artworks or scenes.
“Although each type of experience activates different combinations of areas in the brain, the overlap always occurs in the medial orbital frontal cortex.” -Zeki
Hypothesis:
the difference between our senses and our aesthetic senses lies in cross-modality
“Neuroaesthetics takes both too broad and too narrow a view of art and beauty. On the one hand, neuroaestheticians talk about how the structure of the brain determines our range of available aesthetic experiences: for instance, we rely on our color vision to appreciate a painting.” Alva Noë
Research gaps:
The sensory dimensions of neuroaesthetics often focus solely on visual perception, often neglecting other senses' contributions to aesthetic experiences. Today researchers have explored how the brain experiences an aesthetic experience however, not much has been documented about the subsequent physiological impacts.