Parkinson's disease and changes in the appreciation of art: A comparison of aesthetic and formal evaluations of paintings between PD patients and healthy controls

TY - JOUR

T1 - Parkinson's disease and changes in the appreciation of art

T2 - A comparison of aesthetic and formal evaluations of paintings between PD patients and healthy controls

AU - Lauring, Jon O.

AU - Pelowski, Matthew

AU - Specker, Eva

AU - Ishizu, Tomohiro

AU - Haugbøl, Steven

AU - Hollunder, Barbara

AU - Leder, Helmut

AU - Stender, Johan

AU - Kupers, Ron

PY - 2019/11

Y1 - 2019/11

N2 - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressing neurodegenerative disease predominantly involving the loss of dopamine producing neurons with hallmark symptoms of motor disorders and cognitive, motivational, emotional, and perceptual impairments. Intriguingly, PD can also be connected—often anecdotally—with a sudden burst of artistic creativity, motivation, or changed quality/style of produced art. This has led to growing empirical interest, promising a window into brain function and the unique neurological signature of artists. This topic also fits a growing interest from researchers in other areas, including Alzheimer's or other dementia, which have suggested that specific changes in art production/appraisal may provide a unique basis for therapy, diagnosis, or understanding of these diseases. However, whether PD also shows similar impacts on how we perceive and evaluate art has never been systematically addressed. We compared a cohort of PD patients against age-matched healthy controls, asking participants to rate paintings using scales of liking and beauty and terms pertaining to artworks’ formal and conceptual qualities previously designed to provide a rubric for symptom identification. We found no evidence for PD-related differences in liking or beauty. However, PD patients showed higher ratings on assessed “emotionality,” potentially relating to the tie between PD, dopamine pathways, and emotion/reward.

AB - Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressing neurodegenerative disease predominantly involving the loss of dopamine producing neurons with hallmark symptoms of motor disorders and cognitive, motivational, emotional, and perceptual impairments. Intriguingly, PD can also be connected—often anecdotally—with a sudden burst of artistic creativity, motivation, or changed quality/style of produced art. This has led to growing empirical interest, promising a window into brain function and the unique neurological signature of artists. This topic also fits a growing interest from researchers in other areas, including Alzheimer's or other dementia, which have suggested that specific changes in art production/appraisal may provide a unique basis for therapy, diagnosis, or understanding of these diseases. However, whether PD also shows similar impacts on how we perceive and evaluate art has never been systematically addressed. We compared a cohort of PD patients against age-matched healthy controls, asking participants to rate paintings using scales of liking and beauty and terms pertaining to artworks’ formal and conceptual qualities previously designed to provide a rubric for symptom identification. We found no evidence for PD-related differences in liking or beauty. However, PD patients showed higher ratings on assessed “emotionality,” potentially relating to the tie between PD, dopamine pathways, and emotion/reward.

KW - Parkinson's disease

KW - Art viewing

KW - Aesthetic appraisal

KW - Brain damage

KW - Emotion

KW - Perception

U2 - 10.1016/j.bandc.2019.103597

DO - 10.1016/j.bandc.2019.103597

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31491732

SN - 0278-2626

VL - 136

JO - Brain and Cognition

JF - Brain and Cognition

M1 - 103597

ER -