The experience of beauty derived from sorrow

• Published in: Human brain mapping Vol. 38; no. 8; pp. 4185 - 4200
• Main Authors: Ishizu, Tomohiro, Zeki, Semir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-08-2017; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adult; aesthetic experience; Beauty; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Brain Mapping; Categories; Cerebellum; Connectivity analysis; Cortex (cingulate); Cortex (frontal); Cortex (motor); emotion; Emotions; Emotions - physiology; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Motor task performance; Neural networks; Neuroimaging; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychophysics; Supplementary motor area; Visual Perception - physiology; aesthetic experience; functional magnetic resonance imaging; emotion
• ISSN: 1065-9471; 1097-0193
• DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23657

We studied the neural mechanisms that are engaged during the experience of beauty derived from sorrow and from joy, two experiences that share a common denominator (beauty) but are linked to opposite emotional valences. Twenty subjects viewed and rerated, in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner, 120 images which each had classified into the following four categories: beautiful and sad; beautiful and joyful; neutral; ugly. The medial orbito‐frontal cortex (mOFC) was active during the experience of both types of beauty. Otherwise, the two experiences engaged different parts of the brain: joyful beauty engaged areas linked to positive emotions while sorrowful beauty engaged areas linked to negative experiences. Separate regions of the cerebellum were engaged during experience of the two conditions. A functional connectivity analysis indicated that the activity within the mOFC was modulated by the supplementary motor area/middle cingulate cortex, known to be engaged during empathetic experiences provoked by other peoples' sadness. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4185–4200, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.