On the neuronal dynamics of aesthetic experience: Evidence from electroencephalographic oscillatory dynamics

Aesthetic experiences have an influence on many aspects of life. Interest in the neural basis of aesthetic experiences has grown rapidly in the past decade, and fMRI studies have identified several brain systems supporting aesthetic experiences. Work on the rapid neuronal dynamics of aesthetic experience, however, is relatively scarce. The present study adds to this field by investigating the experience of being aesthetically moved by means of ERP and time-frequency analysis. Participants' EEG was recorded while they viewed a diverse set of artworks and evaluated the extent to which these artworks moved them. Results show that being aesthetically moved is associated with a sustained increase in gamma activity over centroparietal regions. Also, alpha power over right frontocentral regions was reduced in high and low moving images, compared to artworks given intermediate ratings. We interpret the gamma effect as an indication for sustained savoring processes for aesthetically moving artworks compared to aesthetically less moving artworks. The alpha effect is interpreted as an indication of increased attention for aesthetically salient images. In contrast to previous works, we observed no significant effects in any of the established ERP components, but we did observe effects at latencies longer than 1 s. We conclude that EEG time-frequency analysis provides useful information on the neuronal dynamics of aesthetic experience.

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On the Neuronal Dynamics of Aesthetic Experience: Evidence from Electroencephalographic Oscillatory Dynamics

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01812 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-19

Author(s):

Wim Strijbosch ◽

Edward A. Vessel ◽

Dominik Welke ◽

Ondrej Mitas ◽

John Gelissen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Frequency Analysis ◽

Aesthetic Experience ◽

Gamma Activity ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Neuronal Dynamics ◽

Time Frequency Analysis ◽

Aesthetic Experiences ◽

Time Frequency ◽

Alpha Effect

Abstract Aesthetic experiences have an influence on many aspects of life. Interest in the neural basis of aesthetic experiences has grown rapidly in the past decade, and fMRI studies have identified several brain systems supporting aesthetic experiences. Work on the rapid neuronal dynamics of aesthetic experience, however, is relatively scarce. This study adds to this field by investigating the experience of being aesthetically moved by means of ERP and time–frequency analysis. Participants' electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded while they viewed a diverse set of artworks and evaluated the extent to which these artworks moved them. Results show that being aesthetically moved is associated with a sustained increase in gamma activity over centroparietal regions. In addition, alpha power over right frontocentral regions was reduced in high- and low-moving images, compared to artworks given intermediate ratings. We interpret the gamma effect as an indication for sustained savoring processes for aesthetically moving artworks compared to aesthetically less-moving artworks. The alpha effect is interpreted as an indication of increased attention for aesthetically salient images. In contrast to previous works, we observed no significant effects in any of the established ERP components, but we did observe effects at latencies longer than 1 sec. We conclude that EEG time–frequency analysis provides useful information on the neuronal dynamics of aesthetic experience.

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Oscillatory Brain Activity in the Time Frequency Domain Associated to Change Blindness and Change Detection Awareness

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_00073 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 337-350 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Álvaro Darriba ◽

Paula Pazo-Álvarez ◽

Almudena Capilla ◽

Elena Amenedo

Keyword(s):

Change Detection ◽

Frequency Analysis ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Change Blindness ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Beta Band ◽

Time Frequency Analysis ◽

Time Frequency ◽

Theta Power ◽

Oscillatory Brain Activity

Despite the importance of change detection (CD) for visual perception and for performance in our environment, observers often miss changes that should be easily noticed. In the present study, we employed time–frequency analysis to investigate the neural activity associated with CD and change blindness (CB). Observers were presented with two successive visual displays and had to look for a change in orientation in any one of four sinusoid gratings between both displays. Theta power increased widely over the scalp after the second display when a change was consciously detected. Relative to no-change and CD, CB was associated with a pronounced theta power enhancement at parietal-occipital and occipital sites and broadly distributed alpha power suppression during the processing of the prechange display. Finally, power suppressions in the beta band following the second display show that, even when a change is not consciously detected, it might be represented to a certain degree. These results show the potential of time–frequency analysis to deepen our knowledge of the temporal curse of the neural events underlying CD. The results further reveal that the process resulting in CB begins even before the occurrence of the change itself.

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