Beauty as a Neurological Experience

One way of looking at beauty is the idea that we perceive something as beautiful because it triggers some sort of physical response within us which is agreeable. This response to stimuli can be potent.

We cannot always explain it merely due to the complexity of our physical bodies and systems, but this might seem like a very logical explanation. I can certainly imagine that a work of art might somehow help me recall a positive childhood experience: the colors were just the same, or an object in the room or picture reminded me of something else from my past conditioning.

In 1998 V.S. Ramachandran and William Hirstein published a report called “The Science of Art, A Neurological Theory of Aesthetic Experience.” This was the first study of its kind to investigate how the human brain responded to art. In the study, they suggested that artists consciously or subconsciously used specific visual design principles to stimulate the visual areas of the brain to evoke a direct emotional response. If certain principles of art were defined and employed, the brain would respond to those in a specific way.

Ramachandran’s study even tried to define specific principles of art as they relate to Neuroscience. The idea behind this type of thinking almost says that if we correctly understand all the stimuli(color, shapes, etc.) accurately, we can create a particular and agreeable kind of art which will always invoke the proper emotional response. Artwork ...