Neuroaesthetics is gaining momentum. At this early juncture, it is worth taking stock of where the field is and what lies ahead. Here, I review writings that fall under the rubric of neuroaesthetics. These writings include discussions of the parallel organizational principles of the brain and the intent and practices of artists, the description of informative anecdotes, and the emergence of exp...

Neuroaesthetics is an emerging discipline within cognitive neuroscience that is concerned with understanding the biological bases of aesthetic experiences. These experiences involve appraisals of natural objects, artifacts, and environments. Because aesthetic encounters are common in everyday life, exploration of their biological bases can deepen our understanding of human behavior in important...

Citation: Marin MM (2015) Crossing boundaries: toward a general model of neuroaesthetics. Since its dawn in the early 2000s, neuroaesthetics has been flowering as an independent research field (Nadal and Skov, 2013). Its emergence has mostly been driven by researchers who specialize in the study of visual perception and cognition, and who show interest in visual arts. This strong link between n...

There is a paucity of neuroaesthetic studies on prose fiction. This is in contrast to the very many impressive studies that have been conducted in recent times on the neuroaesthetics of sister arts such as painting, music and dance. Why might this be the case, what are its causes and, of greatest importance, how can it best be resolved? In this article, the pitfalls, parameters and prospects of...

Neuroaesthetics is a young field of research concerned primarily with the neural basis of cognitive and affective processes engaged when an individual takes an aesthetic or artistic approach towards a work of art, a non-artistic object or a natural phenomenon. In September 2009, the Copenhagen Neuroaesthetics Conference brought together leading researchers in the field to present and discuss cu...

How might neuroaesthetics move beyond beauty and begin to study meaning? While neuroaesthetics is broadly concerned with the brain’s role in processing art, it has typically focused on perceptual preferences concerning the question of beauty. To cut deeper ontologically the field might consider exploring other basic kinds of meaningful categorical judgments people routinely make about artifacts...