An Approach To Western Neuroaesthetic Theories Of Aesthetic Cognition

The combination of science and humanities has become an inresistable trend in the academic development recent years.As a new discipline,neuroaesthetics thus has risen in response to this trend,seeking biological foundation of aesthetic experiences,and aiming at the interpretation and solution to fundamental aesthetic questions in a scientific way.For example,what is the essence of aesthetics? In what way can man generate sense of beauty? What makes man consider certain things as beautiful?During the time course of aesthetic appreciation,what happens in human brain and human mind? Here comes to the approaches to western neuroaesthetic theories of aesthetic cognition.The approach to the neuroaesthetic mechanism of aesthetic cognition begins with the research on the activitions and functions of various brain areas in the aesthetic processing,based on which neuroaesthetic researchers are specialized in analyzing and explaining the specific aesthetic processing in human brain.Approaches to the aesthetic cognitive mechanism take visual aesthetic appreciation as a starting point,with the main objects being visual artworks,then extending to the investigation on literature,music,dance,etc.This approach is divided into five parts,developing the introduction and evaluation from the most representative scholars and most influential theories.Chapter One introduces the definition of neuroaesthetics,development and the problems to be solved.The aesthetic connotation of aesthetic cognitive mechanism and the brain structure related to aesthetic cognition.Chapter Two explores the cognitive processing mechanism of aesthetic appreciation from the perspective of aesthetic subjects.When Zeki established neuroaesthetics as a new discipline,a hypothesis of neuroaesthetic mechanism of aesthetic cognition was proposed.Jacobsen proposes a Framework for the Psychology of Aesthetics which defines major internal and external elements of the mechanism affecting the aesthetic cognition,and an ERP study which attempts to understand the relationship between the physiological and psychological traits in aesthetics.Leder makes great contribution to the study on aesthetic cognitive mechanism,including the famous Model of Aesthetic Appreciation and Aesthetic Judgment involving the feature of aesthetic experience and formation of aesthetic judgment as well as the processes of aesthetic cognition,a Structural Equation Model to discuss the complex interations between the aesthetic subjects,aesthetic objects and the aesthetic contextin art appreciation,and they aslo figure out that sex and sex orientations affecting the aesthetic cognitive pattern work in concert with visual behaviors.Chatterjee's aesthetic cognitive researches include the formation of beuty suggesting that pleasure is the cause for aesthetic sense;a General Framework for the Neural Underspinning ofVisual Neuroaesthetics attempting to indicate the perception and cognition aspects of aesthetic appreciation as well as the aesthetic responses;a General Information-Processing Model to guide the research of neuroaesthetics showing the different aspects of artworks as aesthetic objects and the emotional response to beauty;the Aesthetic Triad explaining the properties and interactions of sensory-motor,emotion-valuation,and meaning-knowledge neural systems to illustrate neural system's effects on aesthetic experiences.Nadal integrates the models by Chatterjee and Leder to form a Combined Model of Aesthetic Experiences accounting for the neural and psychological mechanism in art experiences,and then provides the initial framework for aesthetic preference.Locher explains the interactions between sensory-driven and cognitively-driven processes and the Framework in Aesthetic Interaction.Pelowski uses a model of art perception,evaluation and emotion in aesthetic experience to illustrate the complex impacts of subjective facters on the aesthetic process of art,and reintegrate all the existed artistic perceptual models into a Vienna Intergrated Model of Art Perception.Cupchik ties to identify the pragmatical and aesthetic modes and outcomes in aesthetic experiences.Redies suggest a Unifing Model of Visual Aesthetic Experience to analyze the interaction between artistic forms as well as cultural background and neural unspinnings in the process of aesthetic cognition.Chapter Three carries on researches on the evaluation and the creation process of the aesthetic objects,in order to explore the cognitive processing principle.Ramachandran uses Peak Shift Principle to explain the function of key factors in aesthetic cognition and artists' strategies in artistic creation.Tinio's Mirror Model depicts the processing of the aesthetic subject and the composition of aesthetic objects in the processes of artistic appreciation and artistic creation in correspondence.Seeley's contributions to aesthetic cognitive mechanism include: a Visuomotor Model for Artists' Perceptual Advantages exploring the differences between artist and non-artists during the aesthetic cognitive processes,a Model for Premotor Contributions to Perceptual Analysis and Form Recognition trying to learn about the artist's creation,history of art and aesthetic phenomenon,a Model for Evaluative Perception demonstrating how emotional processing of an aesthetic stimuli plays an critical role on the perception procedure,a Model for Cognitive Neuroscience of Art tends to figure out the relationship between art,philosophy and neuroscience.Silvia's theory of appraisal of art accounts for the generation of aesthetic emotion and the consequential aesthetic evaluation.Chapter four is about specialized approaches to the neuroaesthetic mechanism of aesthetic cognition,from the perspectives of literature,music,and dance.The neuroaesthetic mechanisms of aesthetic cognition include the Jacobs' Neurocognitive Peotics Model and the Quartet Theory of Emotion which depicts the effects of language on emotion and the processing of literary appreciation;Burke's discussion of the neurocognitive emotional outputs of literature based on the reading experiences of prose fiction.The neuroaesthetic mechanism of aesthetic cognition is mainly about Brattico's exploration of the neural responses to specific musical elements,combingthe universal literary elements.Neuroaesthetic mechanism of aesthetic cognition in dances includes Calvo-Merino's interpretation of the neural activities concerning aesthetic evaluation through empirical researches on sensorimotor aesthetics of dances,and Christensen's research on the functional study on neural and physiological activities revealing that the neural correlates involving in dance appreciation and the formation process of aesthetic emotion.Chapter Five,as a conclusion part,begins with the summary of the key factors which affect aesthetic cognition found in western neuroaesthetic researches,including subjective and objective factors.Then the similarities and differences in the various achievements on neuroaesthetic theories of aesthetic cognition are compared.Finally,the significances and the future prospects of the neuroaesthetic theories of aesthetic cognition are proposed.