Aesthetic experience: Foundations, tensions, and new directions

Neuroaesthetics is a young subdiscipline of cognitive neuroscience that investigates the psychological and biological bases of diverse aesthetic experiences. Emerging from the iterative interaction of perceptual, affective, and cognitive processes, aesthetic experiences are complex, dynamic, subjective states with considerable individual variability. Three decades of behavioral and neuroimaging investigation supports varied and robust theoretical accounts, with key points of debate including whether aesthetic experience constitutes a distinct psychological and neural phenomena or is sufficiently explained in entirely domain general terms. Foundational research conducted in lab settings has established general principles of experience, especially with respect to the engagements with visual art and architecture. Studies with culturally diverse stimuli and populations, and in ecologically valid contexts are growing, and important for testing the generalizability of such patterns. Moving beyond beauty and pleasure, characterizing the diverse and nuanced emotional dimensions of aesthetic experience is a major area of development. Promising applied approaches in neuroaesthetics include the health and wellbeing impact of aesthetic experiences, and how people respond aesthetically to nature and the built environment. Research in these areas has the potential to inform policy and practice in healthcare, architectural design, and urban planning. Contemplative neuroaesthetics has emerged as a new subdiscipline, expanding the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Immersive aesthetic experiences that encourage receptive, non-evaluative attention can expand our understanding of the transformative potentials of aesthetic engagement.