Naturalizing Aesthetics

Aesthetic processing is about what we like and dislike. It applies to all types of perceived objects, not just art works. There should be a general brain network that deals with aesthetic appraisals of like and dislike regardless of the appraised object. In order to investigate this, the authors carried out a large-scale meta-analysis of published neuroimaging studies of aesthetic processing for objects that are perceived using four different sensory pathways: vision, audition, taste, and smell. A part of the brain called the anterior insula appeared as the most concordant area of activation across the four sensory pathways. From an evolutionary standpoint, it most likely that the appreciation of human artifacts like art works piggybacked onto an existing system for the appraisal of objects of biological importance, such as food sources and potential mates.