Abstract
We have used the technique of functional MRI to address the question of whether there are brain areas that are specifically engaged when subjects view paintings that they consider to be beautiful, regardless of the category of painting (that is whether it is a portrait, a landscape, a still life, or an abstract composition). Prior to scanning, each subject viewed a large number of paintings and classified them into beautiful, neutral, or ugly. They then viewed the same paintings in the scanner. The results show that the perception of different categories of paintings are associated with distinct and specialized visual areas of the brain, that the orbito-frontal cortex is differentially engaged during the perception of beautiful and ugly stimuli, regardless of the category of painting, and that the perception of stimuli as beautiful or ugly mobilizes the motor cortex differentially.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1699-1705 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Neurophysiology |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2004 Apr |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Neural Correlates of Beauty. / Kawabata, Hideaki; Zeki, Semir.
In: Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol. 91, No. 4, 04.2004, p. 1699-1705.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Neural Correlates of Beauty
AU - Kawabata, Hideaki
AU - Zeki, Semir
PY - 2004/4
Y1 - 2004/4
N2 - We have used the technique of functional MRI to address the question of whether there are brain areas that are specifically engaged when subjects view paintings that they consider to be beautiful, regardless of the category of painting (that is whether it is a portrait, a landscape, a still life, or an abstract composition). Prior to scanning, each subject viewed a large number of paintings and classified them into beautiful, neutral, or ugly. They then viewed the same paintings in the scanner. The results show that the perception of different categories of paintings are associated with distinct and specialized visual areas of the brain, that the orbito-frontal cortex is differentially engaged during the perception of beautiful and ugly stimuli, regardless of the category of painting, and that the perception of stimuli as beautiful or ugly mobilizes the motor cortex differentially.
AB - We have used the technique of functional MRI to address the question of whether there are brain areas that are specifically engaged when subjects view paintings that they consider to be beautiful, regardless of the category of painting (that is whether it is a portrait, a landscape, a still life, or an abstract composition). Prior to scanning, each subject viewed a large number of paintings and classified them into beautiful, neutral, or ugly. They then viewed the same paintings in the scanner. The results show that the perception of different categories of paintings are associated with distinct and specialized visual areas of the brain, that the orbito-frontal cortex is differentially engaged during the perception of beautiful and ugly stimuli, regardless of the category of painting, and that the perception of stimuli as beautiful or ugly mobilizes the motor cortex differentially.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=1542294285&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1152/jn.00696.2003
DO - 10.1152/jn.00696.2003
M3 - Article
VL - 91
SP - 1699
EP - 1705
JO - Journal of Neurophysiology
JF - Journal of Neurophysiology
SN - 0022-3077
IS - 4
ER -