Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
School of Architecture, Guangdong Engineering & Technology Research Center for Modern Architecture Design, State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 2;7(1):7125. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-07608-8.
What are the neural mechanisms underlying beauty based on objective parameters and beauty based on subjective social construction? This study scanned participants with fMRI while they performed aesthetic judgments on concrete pictographs and abstract oracle bone scripts. Behavioral results showed both pictographs and oracle bone scripts were judged to be more beautiful when they referred to beautiful objects and positive social meanings, respectively. Imaging results revealed regions associated with perceptual, cognitive, emotional and reward processing were commonly activated both in beautiful judgments of pictographs and oracle bone scripts. Moreover, stronger activations of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and motor-related areas were found in beautiful judgments of pictographs, whereas beautiful judgments of oracle bone scripts were associated with putamen activity, implying stronger aesthetic experience and embodied approaching for beauty were elicited by the pictographs. In contrast, only visual processing areas were activated in the judgments of ugly pictographs and negative oracle bone scripts. Results provide evidence that the sense of beauty is triggered by two processes: one based on the objective parameters of stimuli (embodied natural beauty) and the other based on the subjective social construction (social endowed beauty).
基于客观参数和基于主观社会建构的美背后的神经机制是什么？本研究使用 fMRI 对参与者进行扫描，让他们对具体象形文字和抽象甲骨文进行审美判断。行为结果表明，当象形文字和甲骨文分别指代美丽的物体和积极的社会意义时，它们被认为更加美丽。成像结果显示，在对象形文字和甲骨文的审美判断中，与感知、认知、情感和奖励处理相关的区域都被共同激活。此外，在对象形文字的审美判断中发现眶额皮质（OFC）和与运动相关的区域的激活更强，而对甲骨文的审美判断则与壳核活动有关，这表明象形文字引起了更强的审美体验和对美的身体趋近。相比之下，只有在丑陋的象形文字和负面甲骨文的判断中才会激活视觉处理区域。研究结果提供了证据，表明美感是由两个过程引发的：一个基于刺激的客观参数（体现自然美），另一个基于主观社会建构（社会赋予美）。
