The Art of the Brain: Unlocking the Power of Neuroaesthetics

Dear Colleagues,

The relationship between art and the brain is multifaceted. Art not only stimulates various brain regions but also offers numerous cognitive, emotional, and social benefits. Whether you are an artist or simply an appreciator, engaging with art can enrich your life in profound ways. Neuroaesthetics, a field exploring the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, and the arts, seeks to bridge the gap between subjective aesthetic experiences and objective scientific inquiry. By understanding the neural mechanisms underlying our appreciation of art, we can gain deeper insights into the human mind, creativity, and the nature of beauty itself.

Studying the relationship between art and the brain offers a wealth of valuable insights. It can help us to understand the human mind by revealing how our brains process information, perceive beauty, and experience emotions. This knowledge can be applied to develop new therapies, such as refining art therapy techniques for treating mental and physical health conditions. Furthermore, understanding how art engages different brain regions can inform art practices, creating more effective and engaging learning experiences. By demonstrating the cognitive, emotional, and social benefits of art, research can encourage greater access to and the appreciation of the arts in society, ultimately promoting human well-being. Finally, exploring the intersection of art and neuroscience can lead to innovative approaches in fields like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and human–computer interaction.

The international scholarly open-access journal Arts (ISSN 2076-0752) invites submissions for the Special Issue on the topic "The Art of the Brain: Unlocking the Power of Neuroaesthetics." This issue aims to understand the neural correlates of aesthetic experiences, such as the following:

• Beauty: What makes something beautiful to us? How does our brain process and respond to beauty in art, nature, and other domains?
• Creativity: What are the neural mechanisms involved in artistic creation? How does the brain generate novel ideas and translate them into artistic expressions?
• Emotional Response: How does art evoke emotions like joy, sadness, fear, and awe? What are the neural pathways involved in these emotional responses?

We welcome interdisciplinary contributions (6,000-8,000 words long) from researchers from various disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, art history, sociology of art, and aesthetics, that address the following topics:

• The Neuroscience of Creativity: Investigating the neural mechanisms underlying creative processes, such as divergent thinking, insight, and imagination; examining the role of specific brain regions, neurotransmitters, and brainwave patterns in creative cognition; exploring how different art forms (visual art, music, literature) engage and stimulate creative processes.
• Art and Cognitive Function: Studying the impact of art engagement on cognitive abilities like attention, memory, problem-solving, and executive function; investigating how art can enhance cognitive function in ageing populations and individuals with neurological conditions; exploring the use of art-based interventions to improve cognitive outcomes in various settings.
• Art and Emotional Regulation: Investigating how art can influence emotional states, such as reducing stress, anxiety, and depression; examining the neural mechanisms underlying the emotional response to art, such as the activation of reward centres and the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine; exploring the use of art therapy as a therapeutic intervention for emotional and mental health challenges.

Dr. Elena Sidorova
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Arts is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• neuroaesthetics
• creativity
• emotional art
• art experience
• art therapy