Modulation of aesthetic value by semantic context: An fMRI study

Ulrich Kirk; Martin Skov; Oliver Hulme; Mark Schram Christensen; Semir Zeki

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.10.009

Modulation of aesthetic value by semantic context: An fMRI study

Ulrich Kirk, Martin Skov, Oliver Hulme, Mark Schram Christensen, Semir Zeki

182 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Aesthetic judgments, like most judgments, depend on context. Whether an object or image is seen in daily life or in an art gallery can significantly modulate the aesthetic value humans attach to it. We investigated the neural system supporting this modulation by presenting human subjects with artworks under different contexts whilst acquiring fMRI data. Using the same database of artworks, we randomly labelled images as being either sourced from a gallery or computer generated. Subjects' aesthetic ratings were significantly higher for stimuli viewed in the 'gallery' than 'computer' contexts. This contextual modulation correlated with activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex, whereas the context, independent of aesthetic value, correlated with bilateral activations of temporal pole and bilateral entorhinal cortex. This shows that prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices recruited by aesthetic judgments are significantly biased by subjects' prior expectations about the likely hedonic value of stimuli according to their source.

Original language	English
Journal	NeuroImage
Volume	44
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	1125-1132
Number of pages	8
ISSN	1053-8119
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.10.009
Publication status	Published - 2009

Access to Document

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.10.009

Cite this

@article{9d6ccf90c53711dd8ca2000ea68e967b,

title = "Modulation of aesthetic value by semantic context: An fMRI study",

abstract = "Aesthetic judgments, like most judgments, depend on context. Whether an object or image is seen in daily life or in an art gallery can significantly modulate the aesthetic value humans attach to it. We investigated the neural system supporting this modulation by presenting human subjects with artworks under different contexts whilst acquiring fMRI data. Using the same database of artworks, we randomly labelled images as being either sourced from a gallery or computer generated. Subjects' aesthetic ratings were significantly higher for stimuli viewed in the 'gallery' than 'computer' contexts. This contextual modulation correlated with activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex, whereas the context, independent of aesthetic value, correlated with bilateral activations of temporal pole and bilateral entorhinal cortex. This shows that prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices recruited by aesthetic judgments are significantly biased by subjects' prior expectations about the likely hedonic value of stimuli according to their source.",

author = "Ulrich Kirk and Martin Skov and Oliver Hulme and Christensen, {Mark Schram} and Semir Zeki",

note = "CURIS 2009 5200 002",

year = "2009",

doi = "10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.10.009",

language = "English",

volume = "44",

pages = "1125--1132",

journal = "NeuroImage",

issn = "1053-8119",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Modulation of aesthetic value by semantic context: An fMRI study

AU - Kirk, Ulrich

AU - Skov, Martin

AU - Hulme, Oliver

AU - Christensen, Mark Schram

AU - Zeki, Semir

N1 - CURIS 2009 5200 002

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - Aesthetic judgments, like most judgments, depend on context. Whether an object or image is seen in daily life or in an art gallery can significantly modulate the aesthetic value humans attach to it. We investigated the neural system supporting this modulation by presenting human subjects with artworks under different contexts whilst acquiring fMRI data. Using the same database of artworks, we randomly labelled images as being either sourced from a gallery or computer generated. Subjects' aesthetic ratings were significantly higher for stimuli viewed in the 'gallery' than 'computer' contexts. This contextual modulation correlated with activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex, whereas the context, independent of aesthetic value, correlated with bilateral activations of temporal pole and bilateral entorhinal cortex. This shows that prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices recruited by aesthetic judgments are significantly biased by subjects' prior expectations about the likely hedonic value of stimuli according to their source.

AB - Aesthetic judgments, like most judgments, depend on context. Whether an object or image is seen in daily life or in an art gallery can significantly modulate the aesthetic value humans attach to it. We investigated the neural system supporting this modulation by presenting human subjects with artworks under different contexts whilst acquiring fMRI data. Using the same database of artworks, we randomly labelled images as being either sourced from a gallery or computer generated. Subjects' aesthetic ratings were significantly higher for stimuli viewed in the 'gallery' than 'computer' contexts. This contextual modulation correlated with activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex, whereas the context, independent of aesthetic value, correlated with bilateral activations of temporal pole and bilateral entorhinal cortex. This shows that prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices recruited by aesthetic judgments are significantly biased by subjects' prior expectations about the likely hedonic value of stimuli according to their source.

U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.10.009

DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.10.009

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 19010423

SN - 1053-8119

VL - 44

SP - 1125

EP - 1132

JO - NeuroImage

JF - NeuroImage

IS - 3

ER -

Modulation of aesthetic value by semantic context: An fMRI study

Abstract

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this