title: Difference in brain activations during appreciating paintings and photographic analogs.
abstract: Several studies have investigated neural correlates of aesthetic appreciation for paintings but to date the findings have been heterogeneous. This heterogeneity may be attributed to previous studies' measurement of aesthetic appreciation of not only the beauty of paintings but also the beauty of motifs of the paintings. In order to better elucidate the beauty of paintings, it seems necessary to compare aesthetic appreciation of paintings and photographic analogs which included corresponding real images. We prepared for famous painters' pictures and their photographic analogs which were set up to resemble each painting in order to investigate the hypothesis that there exist specific neural correlates associated with the aesthetic appreciation for paintings. Forty-four subjects participated in functional magnetic resonance study which required comparisons of aesthetic appreciation of paintings of still life and landscape versus photographic analogs including corresponding real images of still life and landscape. Bilateral cuneus and the left lingual gyrus were activated in the comparison of aesthetic appreciation of paintings versus photographic analogs. In conclusion, the present findings suggest a possibility of the existence of specific neural correlates associated with the aesthetic appreciation for paintings and that bilateral cuneus and the left lingual gyrus may be involved.
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Yoshinori
authors: Y
authors: Mizokami
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Terao
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Hatano
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Nobuhiko
authors: N
authors: Hoaki
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Kentaro
authors: K
authors: Kohno
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Yasuo
authors: Y
authors: Araki
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Kensuke
authors: K
authors: Kodama
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Mayu
authors: M
authors: Makino
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Toshihiko
authors: T
authors: Izumi
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Tsuyoshi
authors: T
authors: Shimomura
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Oita, Japan.
authors: Minoru
authors: M
authors: Fujiki
authors: ATR Promotions, Brain Activity Imaging Center Kyoto, Japan.
authors: Takanori
authors: T
authors: Kochiyama
keywords: appreciation; beauty; cuneus; functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); lingual gyrus; oil painting