PRIN 2015
The capacity to have an aesthetic experience is a characteristic human trait and it is the result of a complex interplay between sensation, emotions and cognition. Although the concept of “beauty” has been the object of centuries of philosophical and psychological debate, only in recent decades has it been the object of an organized cognitive neuroscience research program. Although recent developments are very promising, more work is needed to uncover the functional and neural mechanisms mediating the aesthetic experience.
Our project aims to use neuroimaging (IMT Unit) and brain stimulation (Milano-Bicocca Unit) techniques to shed light on the neural network underpinning aesthetic experience for different categories of visual stimuli. Furthermore, consistent research points to the existence of several multisensory brain regions that process information regardless the sensory modality in which the input is acquired. Focusing here on touch, whether aesthetic appreciation of the same artworks in the visual and haptic modality lead to similar neural activations is not known. We will investigate this aspect, also considering a related fascinating question, i.e., whether the mechanisms mediating aesthetic experience in the blind brain are the same as in case of a normally sighted brain. What is “beauty” for a blind person’s brain? (Milano-Bicocca and Pisa Unit have a long experience in studying blindness).
Moreover, experience of and sensitivity to aesthetics has received little attention in the clinical setting. We know that aesthetical appreciation of paintings is spared in dementia and schizophrenia affects art perception, but very little is known for instance about major depression disorder, of which a core symptom is anhedonia. Can exposure to beautiful artistic images reduce non-physical pain? This hypothesis is grounded in neuroimaging and brain stimulation evidence showing that aesthetic viewing increases activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that is usually hypo-activated in depressed patients.
Finally, although a certain simplification is inherent to experimental neuroscience (that necessarily tend to look at “average” experiences), an interdisciplinary approach in which knowledge from art history and experimental methods converge is needed (against reductionism). The project strongly aims to open a constructive dialogue between disciplines, such as art history and neuroscience, that have been often considered as having far (or even incompatible) approaches. The IMT-Lucca unit will have a fundamental role in assisting the other units in the selection of stimuli and paradigms and in critically contextualizing the findings about neural correlates of aesthetic appreciation in a broader perspective in which art history and philosophy are considered.
Research Unit: