2017/05/23 by Tomohiro Ishizu, Semir Zeki · 2 citations
Neuroscience · #Aesthetic Perception and Analysis #Neuroscience and Music Perception #Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/hbm.23657
openalex publication_date 2017/05/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
We studied the neural mechanisms that are engaged during the experience of beauty derived from sorrow and from joy, two experiences that share a common denominator (beauty) but are linked to opposite emotional valences. Twenty subjects viewed and rerated, in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner, 120 images which each had classified into the following four categories: beautiful and sad; beautiful and joyful; neutral; ugly. The medial orbito-frontal cortex (mOFC) was active during the experience of both types of beauty. Otherwise, the two experiences engaged different parts of the brain: joyful beauty engaged areas linked to positive emotions while sorrowful beauty engaged areas linked to negative experiences. Separate regions of the cerebellum were engaged during experience of the two conditions. A functional connectivity analysis indicated that the activity within the mOFC was modulated by the supplementary motor area/middle cingulate cortex, known to be engaged during empathetic experiences provoked by other peoples' sadness. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4185-4200, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.