On the Neuronal Dynamics of Aesthetic Experience: Evidence from Electroencephalographic Oscillatory Dynamics

Abstract

Aesthetic experiences have an influence on many aspects of life. Interest in the neural basis of aesthetic experiences has grown rapidly in the past decade, and fMRI studies have identified several brain systems supporting aesthetic experiences. Work on the rapid neuronal dynamics of aesthetic experience, however, is relatively scarce. This study adds to this field by investigating the experience of being aesthetically moved by means of ERP and time–frequency analysis. Participants' electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded while they viewed a diverse set of artworks and evaluated the extent to which these artworks moved them. Results show that being aesthetically moved is associated with a sustained increase in gamma activity over centroparietal regions. In addition, alpha power over right frontocentral regions was reduced in high- and low-moving images, compared to artworks given intermediate ratings. We interpret the gamma effect as an indication for sustained savoring processes for aesthetically moving artworks compared to aesthetically less-moving artworks. The alpha effect is interpreted as an indication of increased attention for aesthetically salient images. In contrast to previous works, we observed no significant effects in any of the established ERP components, but we did observe effects at latencies longer than 1 sec. We conclude that EEG time–frequency analysis provides useful information on the neuronal dynamics of aesthetic experience.

Levels of orientation bias differ across digital content categories: Implications for visual perception

“…How might such an alteration affect visual perception? It is likely that perception of low-level features in early vision affects neuro-aesthetics in perception (Conwell et al, 2021; Jacques, 2021; Strijbosch et al, 2022), affective cognition (de Borst & de Gelder, 2015; Elliott et al, 2011; Zadra & Clore, 2011), and more basically, perceptual salience and attention (Boynton, 2005; Polat, 1999; Taylor & Bays, 2018; Vedechkina & Borgonovi, 2021; Yen & Finkel, 1998). Any of these may be affected by altering the visual environment in this manner.…”

“…Artist's renderings appear to reflect this differential distribution (Schweinhart et al, 2011) and to some extent exacerbate the naturally occurring anisotropy (Schweinhart & Essock, 2013). The oblique effect has been found across multiple tests (Heeley & Timney, 1988; McMahon & MacLeod, 2003; Mikellidou et al, 2015; Westheimer, 2003) and appears to reflect the experience of the visual system with the external visual environment (Girshick et al, 2011; Taylor & Bays, 2018). Cross-cultural differences in the oblique effect have also been established, pointing to experience, possibly across development, as a meaningful factor in the instantiation of the effect (Annis & Frost, 1973; Fang et al, 1997).…”

“…The set of regularities in images represented by the oblique effect is reflected in the distribution of orientation-sensitive cells in the cortex, with more allocation to horizontal and vertical than to oblique orientations (Furmanski & Engel, 2000; Haynes & Rees, 2005; Himmelberg et al, 2020, 2022; Roth et al, 2018; Taylor & Bays, 2018; Yacoub et al, 2008). The mapping between the external world and the perceived image that the visual system constructs is clearly, in part, a product of this distribution.…”

Spectral brain signatures of aesthetic natural perception in the alpha and beta frequency bands

“…First, consistently with our study, Kang and colleagues [2] reported an association between facial beauty and EEG alpha activity. Second, Strijbosch and colleagues [13] reported that gamma activity differentiated between aesthetically moving and non-moving art, while beta activity differentiated between moderately and highly moving art. My results are consistent with the low-frequency effects reported in this study.…”

Ecological decoding of visual aesthetic preference with oscillatory electroencephalogram features—A mini-review

“…However, aesthetic preference does not necessarily arise time-locked to stimulus onset and might develop over larger timescales (Carbon, 2023 ). Thus, in addition to ERPs, EEG oscillatory features can contain information about aesthetic preference (Strijbosch et al, 2022 ). Therefore, EEG oscillatory features could be promising for aesthetic passive BCIs in ecological conditions outside the lab.…”