Dynamics of brain networks in the aesthetic appreciation

Camilo J. Cela-Conde1, Juan García-Prieto2, José J Ramasco3, Claudio R. Mirasso3, Ricardo Bajo2, Enric Munar1, Albert Flexas1, Francisco del Pozo2 and Fernando Maestú2

1 Evocog Group, Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
2Centro de Tecnología Biomédica, Universidad Politécnica y Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
3 Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

(June 2013)

Neuroimage experiments have been essential for identifying active brain networks. During cognitive tasks as in, e.g., aesthetic appreciation, such networks include regions that belong to the default mode network (DMN). Theoretically, DMN activity should be interrupted during cognitive tasks demanding attention, as is the case for aesthetic appreciation. Analyzing the functional connectivity dynamics along three temporal windows and twoconditions, beautiful and not beautiful stimuli, here we report experimental support for the hypothesis that aesthetic appreciation relies on the activation of two different networks, an initial aesthetic network and a delayed aesthetic network, engaged within distinct time frames. Activation of the DMN might correspond mainly to the delayed aesthetic network. We discuss adaptive and evolutionary explanations for the relationships existing between the DMN and aesthetic networks and offer unique inputs to debates on the mind/brain interaction.

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