The role of the motor system in the perception of visual art remains to be better understood. Earlier studies on the visual perception of abstract art (from Gestalt theory, as in Arnheim, 1954 and 1988, to balance preference studies as in Locher and Stappers, 2002, and more recent work by Locher et al., 2007; Redies, 2007, and Taylor et al., 2011), neglected the question, while the field of neuroesthetics (Ramachandran and Hirstein, 1999; Zeki, 1999) mostly concentrated on figurative works. Much recent work has demonstrated the multimodality of vision, encompassing the activation of motor, somatosensory, and viscero-motor brain regions. The present study investigated whether the observation of high-resolution digitized static images of abstract paintings by Lucio Fontana is associated with specific cortical motor activation in the beholder's brain. Mu rhythm suppression was evoked by the observation of original art works but not by control stimuli (as in the case of graphically modified versions of these works). Most interestingly, previous visual exposure to the stimuli did not affect the mu rhythm suppression induced by their observation. The present results clearly show the involvement of the cortical motor system in the viewing of static abstract art works.

The aim of this study was to test the involvement of sensorimotor cortical circuits during the beholding of the static consequences of hand gestures devoid of any meaning.In order to verify this hypothesis we performed an EEG experiment presenting to participants images of abstract works of art with marked traces of brushstrokes. The EEG data were analyzed by using Event Related Potentials (ERPs). We aimed to demonstrate a direct involvement of sensorimotor cortical circuits during the beholding of these selected works of abstract art. The stimuli consisted of three different abstract black and white paintings by Franz Kline. Results verified our experimental hypothesis showing the activation of premotor and motor cortical areas during stimuli observation. In addition, abstract works of art observation elicited the activation of reward-related orbitofrontal areas, and cognitive categorization-related prefrontal areas. The cortical sensorimotor activation is a fundamental neurophysiological demonstration of the direct involvement of the cortical motor system in perception of static meaningless images belonging to abstract art. These results support the role of embodied simulation of artist’s gestures in the perception of works of art.

The main aim of the present study was to explore, by means of high-density EEG, the intensity and the temporal pattern of event-related sensory-motor alpha desynchronization (ERD) during the observation of different types of hand motor acts and gestures. In particular, we aimed to investigate whether the sensory-motor ERD would show a specific modulation during the observation of hand behaviors differing for goal-relatedness (hand grasping of an object and meaningless hand movements) and social relevance (communicative hand gestures and grasping within a social context). Time course analysis of alpha suppression showed that all types of hand behaviors were effective in triggering sensory-motor alpha ERD, but to a different degree depending on the category of observed hand motor acts and gestures. Meaningless gestures and hand grasping were the most effective stimuli, resulting in the strongest ERD. The observation of social hand behaviors such as social grasping and communicative gestures, triggered a more dynamic time course of ERD compared to that driven by the observation of simple grasping and meaningless gestures. These findings indicate that the observation of hand motor acts and gestures evoke the activation of a motor resonance mechanism that differs on the basis of the goal-relatedness and the social relevance of the observed hand behavior.

ABBREVIATION ASD Autism spectrum disorderThe mirror mechanism allows the direct translation of a perceived (seen, felt, heard) action into the same motor representation of its related goal. This mechanism allows a direct comprehension of others' goals and motor intentions, enabling an embodied link between individuals. Because the mirror mechanism is a functional expression of the motor system, these findings suggest the relevance of the motor system to social cognition. It has been hypothesized that the impaired understanding of others' intentions, sensations, and emotions reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could be linked to an alteration of the mirror mechanism in all of these domains. In this review, we address the theoretical issues underlying the social impairments in ASD and discuss them in relation to the cognitive role of the mirror mechanism.Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder occurring with a frequency of one in 150 children. Albeit with consistent differences in their clinical profiles, people with autism share an impairment in three specific domains: social interactions, verbal communication, and non-verbal communication, and a narrow repertoire of behaviours and fields of interest. In other words, in people with autism all behaviours necessary to establish and regulate social interactions successfully seem to be impaired.Although research is now mostly focused on finding a plausible genetic cause for ASD, the origins of the disorder are still controversial. For a long time, parents' unresponsiveness to their child has been suggested as the underlying cause of autistic behaviour.1,2 However, without minimizing the contribution of developmental, environmental, and relational factors, the hypothesis that links ASD exclusively to an early failure in intersubjectivity has gradually been abandoned. In parallel with diagnostic advances that have radically changed the understanding of autism, arguments for an organic deficit have come from studies that demonstrated a distinct cognitive profile in children with autism. For example, a fragmented perceptual-cognitive style endows people with autism with an accurate perception of details at the expense of the general picture that emerges when all the details are put together. The theory of mind deficit account 4,5 proposed that persons with autism are unable to represent their own and others' mental states (such as desires and beliefs), and are thus unable to understand and predict behaviours in terms of these states. According to this view, the essence of social cognition is to be found in the ability to reflect consciously upon different states of mind, thus equalling social cognition to social meta-cognition. Moreover, meta-representational abilities were defined as intrinsically linked to the acquisition of a full-blown linguistic competence, thus pertaining uniquely to the humans.The assertion that there is an evolutionary discontinuity in social cognition 6 needs, however, to be revised in the light of recent findin...