Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026
High-definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex to Enhance Metacognitive Sensitivity
Published on: September 26, 2025
The world can look better: enhancing beauty experience with brain stimulation
Zaira Cattaneo1, Carlotta Lega2, Albert Flexas2
1Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano, Italy, Brain Connectivity Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino, Via Mondino 2, 27100, Pavia, Italy, Evocog Group, Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (IFISC), Universidad de las Islas Baleares y Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Crta Valldemossa, Km 7.5, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano, Italy, Brain Connectivity Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino, Via Mondino 2, 27100, Pavia, Italy, Evocog Group, Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (IFISC), Universidad de las Islas Baleares y Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Crta Valldemossa, Km 7.5, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria zaira.cattaneo@unimib.it.
Abstract:
Aesthetic appreciation is part of our everyday life: it is a subjective judgment we make when looking at a painting, a landscape, or--in fact--at another person. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological evidence suggests that the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a critical role in aesthetic judgments. Here, we show that the experience of beauty can be artificially enhanced with brain stimulation. Specifically, we show that aesthetic appreciation of representational paintings and photographs can be increased by applying anodal (excitatory) transcranial direct current stimulation on the left DLPFC. Our results thus show that beauty is in the brain of the beholder, and offer a novel view on the neural networks underlying aesthetic appreciation.
