Neuroesthetics

Neuroesthetics is a rapidly growing subdiscipline of neuroscience seeking to explain and understand the esthetics of domains such as art and music at the neurological level. The field was pioneered by Semir Zeki of the University College London. Neuroesthetics directs attention to the bodily structure and response of an organism in an encounter with esthetic phenomenon such as art. Tools such as neuroimaging and genetic analysis contribute to developing neuroesthetic knowledge.

A historical example of neuroesthetic interest is the reception of Byzantine portraits in the Babur empire under the rulership of Akbar. Byzantine portraits differed from Babur art of that time in a neurologically important way: the Byzantine portraits presented a large central figure making strong eye contact with the viewer. Across a wide range of organisms, direct eye contact is an assertion of presence hardwired into organisms through the social context of evolution (see Kampe et al. 2001). Byzantine portraits' novel artistic stimulation of this response helps to account for their sensational effects within the artistically advanced Babur empire.