Sex-related similarities and differences in the neural correlates of beauty

Abstract

The capacity to appreciate beauty is one of our species' most remarkable traits. Although knowledge about its neural correlates is growing, little is known about any gender-related differences. We have explored possible differences between men and women's neural correlates of aesthetic preference. We have used magnetoencephalography to record the brain activity of 10 male and 10 female participants while they decided whether or not they considered examples of artistic and natural visual stimuli to be beautiful. Our results reveal significantly different activity between the sexes in parietal regions when participants judged the stimuli as beautiful. Activity in this region was bilateral in women, whereas it was lateralized to the right hemisphere in men. It is known that the dorsal visual processing stream, which encompasses the superior parietal areas, has been significantly modified throughout human evolution. We posit that the observed gender-related differences are the result of evolutionary processes that occurred after the splitting of the human and chimpanzee lineages. In view of previous results on gender differences with respect to the neural correlates of coordinate and categorical spatial strategies, we infer that the different strategies used by men and women in assessing aesthetic preference may reflect differences in the strategies associated with the division of labor between our male and female hunter-gatherer hominin ancestors.aesthetic preference ͉ brain lateralization ͉ gender differences ͉ human evolution ͉ magnetoencefalography N euroimaging studies have elucidated a basic picture of the neural correlates of the appreciation of beauty. Activity has been reported during aesthetic preference tasks in a network of brain regions, including the frontal pole, orbitofrontal cortex, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, caudate nucleus, temporal poles, anterior cingulate cortex, and occipital cortex (1-4). Behavioral experiments have shown that men and women rate the beauty of visual artistic and decorative stimuli in different ways (5, 6), but the extent to which the neural correlates of decisions about aesthetic beauty are influenced by the gender of the participants, is currently unknown.Gender differences in brain activity related with cognitive (7-9) and affective (10, 11) processes have been reported in many instances, showing in many cases differences in lateralization pattern. Such tasks as word generation, spatial attention, and working memory, are lateralized differently in women and men, although not all studies are consistent (12).The present study seeks to identify differences and similarities in brain activity between male and female participants while rating the beauty of artistic and non-artistic visual stimuli, by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG)-a technique that detects changes in the magnetic fields generated by the postsynaptic activity of neurons, with a temporal resolution of milliseconds. We also seek to ascertain whether any possible differences between the sexes are due ...

Gender differences in the neural underpinning of perceiving and appreciating the beauty of the body

“…Relative to this, considerable evidence has been accumulated supporting the notion that both facial and bodily physical attractiveness are 'health certifications' and thus represent honest signals of phenotypic and genetic quality (Grammer et al, 2003). From this perspective, the esthetic evaluation of human body, and in particular of the body of individuals of the opposite gender (in heterosexual individuals), has a particular importance for our survival, being strictly connected with reproductive behavior (Cela-Conde et al, 2009;Dixson, A., Dixson, B., & Anderson, 2005). Accordingly, previous studies have shown greater brain responses to opposite than same-gender bodies involving in particular those electro- (Hietanen & Nummenmaa, 2011) or magneto-encephalographic (Costa, Brawn, & Birbaumer, 2003) components related to perceptual processing of the stimuli in the occipito-temporal cortex.…”

Neurocognitive Decoding of Aesthetic Appreciation

“…Bilateral angular gyrus (AG) activity also has demonstrated to register greater activation during beautiful stimuli processing (Cela-Conde et al 2009) probably as support for enhancement of spatial processing strategies while viewing images by each subject, such as forms and color (Bartels and Zeki 2000) or symmetry and complexity (Jacobsen et al 2005). Similarly, it has also been reported increased auditory cortex activity during aesthetic judgment of music (Koelsch et al 2006).…”

Neuroaesthetics: A Coming of Age Story

“…And third, art making and appreciation serves an important ritualistic function that enhances social cohesion. Space limitations do not allow an adequate consideration of evolutionary perspectives on beauty and art (see Brown & Dissanayake, 2009;Cela-Conde et al, 2009;Dissanayake, 2008;Zaidel, 2005;Grammer, Fink, Moller, & Thornhill, 2003;PentonVoak et al, 2001;Etcoff, 1999;Rentschler, Jüttner, Unzicker, & Landis, 1999;Thornhill & Gangestad, 1999;Zahavi & Zahavi, 1997;Symons, 1979 for relevant discussions). Ultimately, evolutionary and cognitive neuroscience approaches to aesthetics are likely to converge in informative ways.…”