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Specificity of Esthetic Experience for Artworks: An fMRI Study

In a previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, where we investigated the neural correlates of esthetic experience, we found that observing canonical sculptures, relative to sculptures whose proportions had been modified, produced the activation of a network that included the later...

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Autores principales: Di Dio, Cinzia, Canessa, Nicola, Cappa, Stefano F., Rizzolatti, Giacomo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Research Foundation 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3220187/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22121344
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00139
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author Di Dio, Cinzia
Canessa, Nicola
Cappa, Stefano F.
Rizzolatti, Giacomo
author_facet Di Dio, Cinzia
Canessa, Nicola
Cappa, Stefano F.
Rizzolatti, Giacomo
author_sort Di Dio, Cinzia
collection PubMed
description In a previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, where we investigated the neural correlates of esthetic experience, we found that observing canonical sculptures, relative to sculptures whose proportions had been modified, produced the activation of a network that included the lateral occipital gyrus, precuneus, prefrontal areas, and, most interestingly, the right anterior insula. We interpreted this latter activation as the neural signature underpinning hedonic response during esthetic experience. With the aim of exploring whether this specific hedonic response is also present during the observation of non-art biological stimuli, in the present fMRI study we compared the activations associated with viewing masterpieces of classical sculpture with those produced by the observation of pictures of young athletes. The two stimulus-categories were matched on various factors, including body postures, proportion, and expressed dynamism. The stimuli were presented in two conditions: observation and esthetic judgment. The two stimulus-categories produced a rather similar global activation pattern. Direct comparisons between sculpture and real-body images revealed, however, relevant differences, among which the activation of right antero-dorsal insula during sculptures viewing only. Along with our previous data, this finding suggests that the hedonic state associated with activation of right dorsal anterior insula underpins esthetic experience for artworks.
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spelling pubmed-32201872011-11-25 Specificity of Esthetic Experience for Artworks: An fMRI Study Di Dio, Cinzia Canessa, Nicola Cappa, Stefano F. Rizzolatti, Giacomo Front Hum Neurosci Neuroscience In a previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, where we investigated the neural correlates of esthetic experience, we found that observing canonical sculptures, relative to sculptures whose proportions had been modified, produced the activation of a network that included the lateral occipital gyrus, precuneus, prefrontal areas, and, most interestingly, the right anterior insula. We interpreted this latter activation as the neural signature underpinning hedonic response during esthetic experience. With the aim of exploring whether this specific hedonic response is also present during the observation of non-art biological stimuli, in the present fMRI study we compared the activations associated with viewing masterpieces of classical sculpture with those produced by the observation of pictures of young athletes. The two stimulus-categories were matched on various factors, including body postures, proportion, and expressed dynamism. The stimuli were presented in two conditions: observation and esthetic judgment. The two stimulus-categories produced a rather similar global activation pattern. Direct comparisons between sculpture and real-body images revealed, however, relevant differences, among which the activation of right antero-dorsal insula during sculptures viewing only. Along with our previous data, this finding suggests that the hedonic state associated with activation of right dorsal anterior insula underpins esthetic experience for artworks. Frontiers Research Foundation 2011-11-18 /pmc/articles/PMC3220187/ /pubmed/22121344 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00139 Text en Copyright © 2011 Di Dio, Canessa, Cappa and Rizzolatti. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article subject to a non-exclusive license between the authors and Frontiers Media SA, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and other Frontiers conditions are complied with.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Di Dio, Cinzia
Canessa, Nicola
Cappa, Stefano F.
Rizzolatti, Giacomo
Specificity of Esthetic Experience for Artworks: An fMRI Study
title Specificity of Esthetic Experience for Artworks: An fMRI Study
title_full Specificity of Esthetic Experience for Artworks: An fMRI Study
title_fullStr Specificity of Esthetic Experience for Artworks: An fMRI Study
title_full_unstemmed Specificity of Esthetic Experience for Artworks: An fMRI Study
title_short Specificity of Esthetic Experience for Artworks: An fMRI Study
title_sort specificity of esthetic experience for artworks: an fmri study
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3220187/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22121344
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00139
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