title: Shaping and reshaping the aesthetic brain: Emerging perspectives on the neurobiology of embodied aesthetics.
abstract: Less than two decades after its inception, the burgeoning field of neuroaesthetics continues to grow in interest and momentum. Despite the biological and social importance of the human body and the attention people pay to its appearance in daily life, only recently has neuroaesthetic inquiry turned its attention to questions concerning the aesthetic appraisal of the human body. We review evidence illustrating that the complexity of aesthetic experience is reflected by dynamic interplay between brain systems involved in reward, perceptual and motor processing, with a focus on aesthetic perception involving the human body. We then evaluate work demonstrating how these systems are modulated by beholders' expertise or familiarity. Finally, we discuss seminal studies revealing the plasticity of behavioural and neural responses to beauty after perceptual and motor training. This research highlights the rich potential for neuroaesthetic inquiry to extend beyond its typical realm of the fine arts to address important questions regarding the relationship between embodiment, aesthetics and performing arts. We conclude by considering some of the criticisms and limitations of neuroaesthetics, and highlight several outstanding issues for future inquiry.
authors.affiliation: Wales Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, United Kingdom; Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, England, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Louise P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Kirsch
authors.affiliation: Wales Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, United Kingdom; Department of Human Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy; Scientific Institute (IRCCS) Eugenio Medea, Polo Friuli Venezia Giulia, San Vito al Tagliamento, Pordenone, Italy.
authors.forename: Cosimo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Urgesi
authors.affiliation: Wales Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, United Kingdom; Department of Social and Cultural Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: e.cross@bangor.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Emily S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Cross
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004954:Esthetics / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology*; D009446:Neurobiology / Q000379:methods; D012201:Reward; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Art; Beauty; Body perception; Brain; Dance; Embodiment; Neuroaesthetics; fMRI