Notes on Reading Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
Chapter 1: The Anatomy of the Arts
The introduction of Your Brain on Art presents the idea that aesthetic experiences can significantly enhance health, well-being, and cognitive abilities, as well as improve your ability to learn and flourish. This assertion serves as the foundation for understanding how the sciences of neuroplasticity and sensory processing connect to the arts.
Why Aesthetic Experiences Matter
The book highlights the core science behind why aesthetic experiences are not just enjoyable but beneficial. The first chapter delves into how our senses operate, illustrating the brain's complex interactions with sensory stimuli.
How Your Senses Work
Smelling
Smell is one of the oldest senses in human evolution.
The human nose has the ability to detect over 1 trillion odors, with 400 distinct scent receptors.
Scent receptors renew themselves every 36 days.
When you inhale, microscopic molecules from your surroundings stimulate the scent receptors, entering through your nose and dissolving in a membrane called the olfactory epithelium.
These signals travel through neurons to the olfactory bulb, where they connect with cells that help you identify distinct features of the scent.
The olfactory cortex, located in the temporal lobe of the brain, processes the scent information, often triggering strong emotional responses.
For example, the scent of a newborn baby triggers the release of oxytocin, also known as the “love drug,” which activates bonding, empathy, and trust.
Tasting
Taste is also a chemical sense.
Foods you eat trigger over 10,000 taste buds, generating electrical signals that travel to the gustatory cortex, a part of the brain involved in processing emotions and visceral experiences, making taste a powerful sense for encoding memory.
Hearing
Hearing is an intricate process.
Sound waves travel through the ear canal to vibrate the eardrum and then move through the ossicles to the cochlea, where tiny hair cells are activated by fluid motion.
These signals reach the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe, where the brain interprets the sounds.
Different tempos, languages, and sound levels affect emotions and mental states.
Studies show that listening to music at 60 beats per minute can synchronize alpha brain waves, which are associated with relaxation, while slower beats can help induce sleep by activating delta waves.
Seeing
The ability to see involves processing light through a complex system.
Light is converted into electrical signals by photoreceptors in the eyes, which send these signals to the optic nerve and then to the occipital lobe of the brain, responsible for visual processing.
A part of this lobe, the lateral occipital area, is especially important for the brain’s aesthetic appreciation of art.
For individuals with visual impairments, many can still differentiate light from dark, even without recognizing colors or shapes.
Touching
The sensitivity of our skin, especially in hands, feet, and fingers, plays a crucial role in our sensory experience.
Touch receptors connect through sensory nerves to the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobe, which processes touch.
Touch can rapidly alter neurobiology and mental states, releasing oxytocin (the love hormone) and fostering trust, compassion, and reducing anxiety.
Through touch, we communicate emotions, creating stronger and longer-lasting memories.
These sensory systems—smell, taste, hearing, sight, and touch—each contribute to fast, biological reactions that shape our mental states and emotions. In fact, sensory responses occur within milliseconds, underscoring the profound influence of sensory stimuli on our brain.
The World Inside Your Head
The cerebrum, which comprises the brain's two hemispheres, controls a wide range of functions. Each hemisphere governs the opposite side of the body. The brain is divided into four lobes—frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital—each responsible for unique aspects of processing information, memory, and emotional regulation.
Neuroplasticity
The brain is highly adaptable, constantly forming new connections and reorganizing itself—a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity allows the brain to change and strengthen or weaken neuronal connections over time.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize and form new neural pathways based on experience.
Neurons communicate through synaptic transmission, where signals pass across synapses, strengthening or weakening connections depending on the intensity of sensory input.
The adage "cells that fire together, wire together" reflects the process of strengthening synaptic connections through repeated activation, but synapses need to be active at high intensity to “wire together.”
Saliency, or the importance of an experience, affects the brain’s ability to encode memory. Experiences with high emotional or personal relevance can lead to the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, boosting synaptic plasticity and making memories stronger.
Through pruning, the brain removes unused synaptic connections, promoting more efficient networks. This dynamic process ensures the brain can adapt to new environments and experiences. This capacity for change is especially relevant in enriched environments that provide stimulating and diverse sensory input.
Enriched Environments and Neuroplasticity
In the 1960s, Marian Diamond challenged the prevailing belief that the brain deteriorates over time. She demonstrated that rats in enriched environments, filled with varied textures, toys, and objects, showed increased brain growth compared to those in standard or impoverished conditions.
Diamond’s findings showed that the brain is highly responsive to its environment. Exposure to enriched spaces promotes cognitive growth, while impoverished environments can have detrimental effects on health and well-being. Nature, with its varied and dynamic stimuli, is considered one of the ultimate enriched environments.
The Aesthetic Triad
Anjan Chatterjee, a professor of neurology and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, explores how aesthetic experiences engage our brain. He developed the aesthetic triad, a model explaining the dynamic interplay between three components that form an aesthetic experience:
Sensorimotor systems: The body’s physical engagement with sensory stimuli.
Reward systems: The neural circuits that activate pleasure and happiness, releasing neurochemicals like dopamine.
Cognitive meaning-making: The brain’s ability to process personal, cultural, and historical context in interpreting sensory input.
The overlap of these components creates a unique aesthetic experience, influenced by biology, individual experiences, and cultural context.
Beauty and Art
The perception of beauty is subjective, influenced by cultural and individual factors. For instance, the color of mourning differs between cultures—while black is associated with mourning in many Western cultures, white signifies mourning in parts of India. These differences are rooted in personal history and societal norms, forming the context in which aesthetic experiences unfold.
Art not only provides beauty but also allows individuals to engage with complex emotions, leading to potential transformation. Art can serve as a medium for exploring difficult topics, offering catharsis, or emotional release, as neurochemicals are triggered, altering mood and perception.
Default Mode Network (DMN)
The Default Mode Network (DMN), located in the prefrontal and parietal lobes, is activated during introspective activities like daydreaming, remembering, or making art. It is integral to the creation of meaning and personal reflection.
The DMN helps us make connections, form judgments, and understand personal experiences. It explains why certain art resonates more deeply with individuals—it’s rooted in how we interpret the world and create meaning through neural activity.
A Space for Being: The Intersection of Art and Neuroscience
The exhibit A Space for Being, created by Google’s Hardware Design Group in collaboration with neuroaesthetics experts, exemplifies the powerful connection between art, design, and neuroscience. This immersive experience featured three rooms designed to elicit different sensory responses, measured by biometrics like heart rate and respiration.
Surprisingly, some participants reported disconnects between their cognitive preferences and the physiological responses measured by the wristbands. This discrepancy highlighted how deeply personal and unconscious our responses to art can be, influenced by past experiences and embedded cultural beliefs.
Example: A design journalist, initially drawn to a “sophisticated” room, later realized that her body felt most at ease in a space she had perceived as less refined. This revealed the complexity of how our experiences of beauty and comfort are shaped by more than just aesthetics—they are deeply entwined with our identities and histories.