Brain analyzes reveal neurons circuits linked to the subjective interpretation of art

These paintings are both of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian but display surprisingly different styles. The left house is representative; The colored squares on the right are more abstract. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesScientists have shown this pair of paintings (and others) to people while scanning their brains. The results highlight how we react to art and provide a scientific test with a long -standing idea in art theory.

Researchers from the Zuckerman Institute in Columbia have found that people’s brain activity varied more during the visualization of abstract art, compared to representative art. This was particularly true in the network in default mode, a region of the brain linked to the interpretation of the underlying meanings of the stories, as well as in abstract thought, imagination and creativity.

“These results support the idea that observers are more likely to analyze abstract art in their unique way,” said Celia Durkin, PH.D., the first author of the new study and former graduate student of the Shohamy Lab.

Discovery is a step towards achieving a long-standing objective of the Nobel winner and the co-author of the Eric Kandel study, MD: to understand how the brain contributes to the experience of art.

“Eric approached me with an interest in developing a test of” The Beholder’s Share “, a concept of art history which suggests that observers actively engage in the construction of meaning when they see art,” said the co-author of the Daphna Shohamy study, PH.D., director and CEO of Columbia’s Zuckerman.

“Experience provides scientific evidence that the vision and interpretation of abstract art is based on personal experiences and memories, not only in theory, but in models of brain activity.”