What is Neuroaesthetics?

Something I often get from new clients on Neuroaesthetics is this - Sounds interesting, but what is it?

So I thought I’d give a brief intro to the field and 3 applications.

Neuroaesthetics is an interdiciplinary field, and a branch of psychology and neuroscience. The field is focused on how aesthetic experiences measurably change the brain, body and behaviour.

What are aesthetic experiences? Rich, affective sensory experiences. Each time you go to a concert, become transfixed by an artwork, observe the architecture of a space, appreciate the design of a brand, smell an incense candle, take in a beautiful landscape. These are all examples of aesthetic experiences.

Neuroaesthetics has a range of applications and my job barely scratches the surface. So here are a 3 ways Neuroaesthetics is being used in the wider world:

Design and User-experience: refer to my post, Neurodesign in UX

Spatial Design: Neuroaesthetics has been applied to design workspaces, cultural spaces, social spaces for health and wellbeing. One example is New York based architect, Suchi Reddy’s piece ‘Becoming’ in Surrey, Canada designed to represent the diverse, multicultural facets of the city.

Therapy for Neurodegenerative Diseases: More and more understanding about the benefits of arts based interventions on therapy and treatment for diseases is growing. I trace this back to someone I believe was one of the first Neuroaestheticians, the neurologist Oliver Sacks. His book called Musicophilia is a great intro his work on the relationship between music and the mind. Nowadays, there is a variety of music, dance, drawing based therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. John Hopkins University in the US are using music therapy as treatment for Parkinson’s Disease.

So there we have it, 3 uses of Neuroaesthetics. And if you’re interested in learning more, there is a wonderful new book on Neuroaesthetics called Your Brain On Art, all about the benefits of art and aesthetics for health and wellbeing.