Neuroimaging studies of aesthetic appreciation have shown that activity in the lateral occipital area (LO)-a key node in the object recognition pathway-is modulated by the extent to which visual artworks are liked or found beautiful. However, the available evidence is only correlational. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the putative causal role of LO in the aesthetic appreciation of paintings. In our first experiment, we found that interfering with LO activity during aesthetic appreciation selectively reduced evaluation of representational paintings, leaving appreciation of abstract paintings unaffected. A second experiment demonstrated that, although the perceived clearness of the images overall positively correlated with liking, the detrimental effect of LO TMS on aesthetic appreciation does not owe to TMS reducing perceived clearness. Taken together, our findings suggest that object-recognition mechanisms mediated by LO play a causal role in aesthetic appreciation of representational art.

Cattaneo, Z., Lega, C., Ferrari, C., Vecchi, T., Cela Conde, C., Silvanto, J., et al. (2015). The role of the lateral occipital cortex in aesthetic appreciation of representational and abstract paintings: A TMS study. BRAIN AND COGNITION, 95, 44-53 [10.1016/j.bandc.2015.01.008].

The role of the lateral occipital cortex in aesthetic appreciation of representational and abstract paintings: A TMS study

CATTANEO, ZAIRA
;
LEGA, CARLOTTA;FERRARI, CHIARA;
2015

Abstract

Neuroimaging studies of aesthetic appreciation have shown that activity in the lateral occipital area (LO)-a key node in the object recognition pathway-is modulated by the extent to which visual artworks are liked or found beautiful. However, the available evidence is only correlational. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the putative causal role of LO in the aesthetic appreciation of paintings. In our first experiment, we found that interfering with LO activity during aesthetic appreciation selectively reduced evaluation of representational paintings, leaving appreciation of abstract paintings unaffected. A second experiment demonstrated that, although the perceived clearness of the images overall positively correlated with liking, the detrimental effect of LO TMS on aesthetic appreciation does not owe to TMS reducing perceived clearness. Taken together, our findings suggest that object-recognition mechanisms mediated by LO play a causal role in aesthetic appreciation of representational art.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Aesthetic appreciation; Art; Clearness; Liking; LO; Object-recognition; TMS;
Aesthetic appreciation; Art; Clearness; LO; Liking; Object-recognition; TMS
English
2015
95
44
53
none
Cattaneo, Z., Lega, C., Ferrari, C., Vecchi, T., Cela Conde, C., Silvanto, J., et al. (2015). The role of the lateral occipital cortex in aesthetic appreciation of representational and abstract paintings: A TMS study. BRAIN AND COGNITION, 95, 44-53 [10.1016/j.bandc.2015.01.008].
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/76633
Citazioni
  • Scopus 44
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 40
Social impact