Elsevier

NeuroImage

Volume 66, 1 February 2013, Pages 288-292
NeuroImage

Neurocognitive processing of body representations in artistic and photographic images

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.10.067Get rights and content

Abstract

Visual art because of its artistic context can be related to the general idea of providing alternative perceptual experiences. However, research examining the neural basis of art beyond the paradigm of beauty has been neglected. This study seeks to determine how the perception of a body in an artwork can be distinguished from the perception of a body in a non-artistic photography. While viewing different body representations in both artworks and photographs, subjects were required to evaluate the appeal of the portrayed persons. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we show that the perception of a body within the context of art leads to a higher activation in the right parietal cortex and the extrastriate cortex bilaterally. Relating this result to concepts from previous research, we suggest that the perception of art is linked to visuo-spatial coding and also motor mapping. In contrast, the higher activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the primary visual cortex during the perception of a body in a non-artistic frame of reference, i.e. in a photograph, can be linked to processes of person evaluation. Possibly, the task to judge the appeal of a person in a photograph might be more daunting and, thus, cause emotional and even moral challenges being reflected in the ventromedial prefrontal activity. Taken together, perceptual experiences within an artistic vs. a non-artistic frame of reference are based on distinct patterns of neuronal activity.

Highlights

► We study differences in the neural processing of visual artworks and photographs. ► The perception of body representations in artworks is linked to embodiment processes. ► Neural processing of visual artworks is a specific case of information processing.

Introduction

Visual art has always been linked to the idea of providing alternative perceptual experiences. However, there is still a lack of research investigating the specificity of visual artworks in comparison to non-artistic images from an everyday context. Considering previous research, it can be stated that a significant number of studies mainly focus on esthetic appraisal and the perception of beauty (Jacobsen et al., 2004, Kawabata and Zeki, 2004, Tomohiro and Zeki, 2011, Vartanian and Goel, 2004). Enquiries have been made to evaluate esthetic judgments (Cela-Conde et al., 2004), different artistic styles (Ishai et al., 2007, Silveira et al., 2012), and gender-related differences in the neural correlates of beauty (Cela-Conde et al., 2009).

The experience of art can be considered to be both a sensual and empathic process (Freedberg and Gallese, 2007). Neuroimaging studies on the perception of visual art propose an important role of areas related to emotional evaluation and reward, and to sensorimotor processing (Di Dio and Gallese, 2009). Visuo-spatial skills and the ability to evoke emotional feeling are considered to be crucial for the appreciation and creation of visual artworks. Previous research proposes that these abilities might primarily be mediated by the right hemisphere (Chatterjee, 2003a, Drago et al., 2008). A functional difference between left and right hemisphere is linked to differences in both processing and production of artworks (Pöppel, 2010, Stoerig et al., 1983). Particularly the right parietal lobe seems to play a major role in the processing of visual artworks (Drago et al., 2008). Supporting this argumentation, previous research provides evidence that patients with predominant left hemisphere degenerative diseases either still have a preservation of artistic skills (Drago et al., 2006) or even show a new interest in the arts (Miller and Hou, 2004), a phenomenon which is often referred to as “de novo creativity” (Chakravarty, 2012). In line with this, Seeley et al. (2008) even suggest the localization of artistic creativity in the right intraparietal sulcal region. Additionally, it is well documented that injuries to the right posterior parietal lobe can affect the perception of selective aspects of art (Bromberger et al., 2011).

Exemplary activity in several parietal foci during the perception of art is highlighted in a recent MEG-study by Cela-Conde et al. (2009), that showed greater activation for stimuli that were evaluated as beautiful. Another study by Di Dio et al. (2007) investigating the perception of Classical and Renaissance sculptures shows that the observation of the statues elicited activation of the ventral premotor cortex and the posterior parietal cortex suggesting motor resonance congruent with the movements that were implied in the sculptures. Activity in parietal and premotor areas could be shown in a study by Jacobsen et al. (2006) that required participants to make an esthetic judgment of abstract geometrical shapes. Building upon these findings, Di Dio and Gallese (2009) propose to understand the esthetic experience as a process characterized by visuo-spatial coding and motor mapping. Their argumentation can be linked to evidence that describes the posterior parietal cortex, including the intraparietal regions, as part of the motor system with a pivotal role in visuo-motor transformations (Fogassi and Luppino, 2005, Fogassi et al., 2005). Freedberg and Gallese (2007) propose that embodied simulation and empathetic feelings play a crucial role in the perception of art by referring to the mirror neurons system. In this context, both the content of an artwork as well as the artists' creative traces, such as brushstrokes, are suggested to be important elements stimulating the perception process (Freedberg and Gallese, 2007).

While the above-mentioned propositions provide a coherent picture, further experimental evidence is needed to investigate neural responses to art in comparison to images from an everyday context. A recent imaging study by Lacey et al. (2011) addresses this issue by testing the hypothesis that the artistic status of an image engages reward circuitry. Based on a stimuli selection that contained a variety of motifs in both artworks and everyday images, it could be shown that relative to non-art-images, art-images activate reward-related regions. An alternative approach towards the effect of the artistic status was taken in a study that evaluated the perception of abstract paintings that were either described as coming from a museum or generated by a computer (Kirk et al., 2009). It could be observed that the participants had greater neural activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex for the images about which they thought that they were taken from a museum. These studies clearly show that the artistic status of an image influences its perception.

Albeit beauty or esthetic tastes are highly important concepts to investigate, they do not touch upon the virtue that might be characteristic and unique to an artwork. When aiming at investigating the distinctiveness of artistic images in comparison to images from an everyday context, it is a salient issue to replace the old concept of beauty as the single criterion of good art with more general concepts like pleasure, interest, and stimulation (Leder et al., 2004). This can only be achieved by a research question that reaches beyond aspects of esthetic appraisal. In our study we were not interested in esthetic taste patterns but in the artistic status of an image and its effect upon the observant: how does the artistic status of an image depicting a body representation affect the way it is perceived? With the decision to examine body representations in visual artworks and non-artistic photographs this study aims to control for content related effects of a diverse stimulus selection by initially focussing on one consistent motif. Accordingly, two stimulus-categories were chosen as contrasting conditions. On the one hand paintings of human bodies for the category artistic images and on the other hand photographs of human bodies for the category non-artistic images. Capitalizing on previous research that proposes to understand the perception of art as a process grounded on visuo-spatial processes, we hypothesized a possible role of the parietal cortex during the artistic condition illuminating the effectiveness of artistic images. Thus, we expected that judging body representations in artistic and photographic conditions would engage different neurocognitive patterns, contrasting responses to artworks and non-artistic images.

Section snippets

Participants

Twenty right-handed subjects (10 female; mean age 35 years, range 27–48 years) with normal or corrected to normal vision, no formal art education and naïve to the hypothesis participated. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the ethics committee. Informed consent was provided and subjects received financial reward.

Stimuli

In order to keep the content of the images consistent the decision was made to opt for one motif in both artistic and non-artistic

Behavioral results

A repeated-measures one-way ANOVA was computed with reaction time as dependent variable. Comparing the affective evaluation time of artworks, photographs and control condition, an overall significant difference in reaction time (F(2, 38) = 15.312, p < .001, η2 = 0.446) could be observed. The difference was driven by the disparity between both picture conditions and the control condition (M = 657 ms, SE = 41 ms; p(artwork-control) < .001; p(photography-control) < .002). There was no significant difference in

Discussion

The results of this study show that the perception of body representations in artworks and photographs elicits distinct neural patterns. As predicted, it can be shown that the perception of a body representation in an artwork is characterized by a neural response in parietal regions, in particular in the right parietal cortex and beyond that in the extrastriate cortex bilaterally. In comparison, the perception of a body representation in a non-artistic image can be linked to activation of the

Conclusions

In our study we tested whether the neural activations underpinning the perception of a body representation in a visual artwork (painting) differ from the perception of a body representation in a non-artistic image (photography). fMRI results indicate that the perception of a body in an artwork stronger recruited the right parietal cortex. In contrast, the perception of a body in a photograph stronger recruited the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. This alludes to distinctively oriented perception

Acknowledgments

The study was supported by a research scholarship for A.L. from Hanns-Seidel-Foundation and a grant from the Bavarian Ministry for Science, Research and Art for E.G. Further support was received from the Ludwig-Maximilian-University of Munich (FoeFoLe grant number 748), the Institute of Cognition and Communication, Munich and the Parmenides Center for Art and Science, Munich. We thank Ute Coates for the excellent assistance with the brain imaging.

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