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By Ruxandra Brătășanu
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder… the age old saying goes. Defining whether something is worthy of the title has been a challenge faced by many philosophers and artists, for centuries. However, in the past few decades, neuroscientists have also been intrigued by the question: “What is beauty?”
This curiosity has led to the development of a brand-new field, neuroaesthetics. In 1999, it was established by the neurobiologist Semir Zeki as the study of the brain in report to aesthetic experiences. It quickly evolved into “the transdisciplinary study of how arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the body, brain, and behaviour and how this knowledge is translated into specific practices that advance health and wellbeing”.
Semir Zeki was curious about the neural bases underlying how we perceive and judge art. So, he designed an experiment, as he felt inspired by Edmund Burke’s definition of beauty which is "for the greater part, some quality in bodies acting mechanically upon the human mind through the intervention of the senses". The experiment went like this: each subject was presented with pieces of visual and auditory art and was asked to rate them according to how beautiful they found it. Then they had them look at or listen to the art in an fMRI. What he found was that both the visual and auditory perception of the pieces that were considered beautiful had something in common: the activation of the medial orbito-frontal cortex. When it came to perceiving ugliness, something different happened in the brain: the amygdala and the motor cortex were activated. That is an enormous difference. So, this raises the question: what is the filter or mechanism that determines which neural pathway to take? For researchers this felt like discovering “a map to a hidden treasure” – just the beginning.
Now, neuroaesthetics has shifted its focus. Scientists like Susan Magsamen are working towards expanding the field towards the key role aesthetic experiences play in developing solutions that address real-world problems.
A huge struggle people face nowadays is mental health. We live in a world plagued by chronic stress, chained to our desks working or mindlessly scrolling through social media. This has led to not only a great disconnect in our social lives, but also from ourselves. When we’ve cut out the joyous, carefree moments, it’s no wonder that we often feel overwhelmed and energy drained. So, what is there to do?
Let’s go back in time and picture how communities used to live. People were close to nature, handcrafted tools, clothes and decorated objects, they took part in rituals involving song and dance. Art was essential to their survival. How can we bring it back? What if you try painting something once a week or dance around your room from time to time. The best part is you don’t even have to be good at it. Enjoying yourself and letting your imagination run wild is all that matters.
Art has the power to transport you to a magical flow state, when time stops and you are one with your craft. By channeling this feeling more often, you can lessen the burden of stress, use the time to connect with loved ones or just take a break from mind wandering, reconnect to your true self and acknowledge how you feel.
Moreover, transitioning to an enriched environment by adding aesthetic experiences to your life, promotes neurogenesis. In other words, it helps your brain grow by developing new cells and stronger synapses.
If you are feeling skeptical, how about I tell you that making art isn’t the only way to get the benefits. Being a beholder of art is a great alternative! You can have an aesthetic experience by going to a concert, a museum, having fresh flowers, exploring nature, reading a book or a poem. It’s about surrounding yourself with beauty.
I want to leave you with what Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross call the “aesthetic mindset”. It’s a way of living that embraces curiosity, leading to a playful attitude and increased sensorial awareness, while cultivating an interest in making or beholding the arts. You can embrace it by finding beauty in the little things and filling your day with small artistic moments like doodling on your planner or singing in the shower.
In the end, art is intertwined with the human experience and neuroaesthetics aims to discover the benefits of this magical thing we call art. And so, in the wise words of Professor Keating “the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
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