eprintid: 1474171 rev_number: 26 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/01/47/41/71 datestamp: 2016-01-25 17:08:14 lastmod: 2021-09-26 22:26:40 status_changed: 2016-01-25 17:08:14 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Kirsch, LP creators_name: Urgesi, C creators_name: Cross, ES title: The Shaping and Reshaping of the Aesthetic Brain: Emerging Perspectives on the Neurobiology of Embodied Aesthetics ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C07 keywords: Neuroaesthetics; fMRI; Brain; Beauty; Art; Body perception; Dance; Embodiment note: © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.) abstract: Less than two decades after its inception, the burgeoning field of neuroaesthetics continues to grow in interest and momentum. Despite the biological and social importance of the human body and the attention people pay to its appearance in daily life, only recently has neuroaesthetic inquiry turned its attention to questions concerning the aesthetic appraisal of the human body. We review evidence illustrating that the complexity of aesthetic experience is reflected by dynamic interplay between brain systems involved in reward, perceptual and motor processing, with a focus on aesthetic perception involving the human body. We then evaluate work demonstrating how these systems are modulated by beholders’ expertise or familiarity. Finally, we discuss seminal studies revealing the plasticity of behavioural and neural responses to beauty after perceptual and motor training. This research highlights the rich potential for neuroaesthetic inquiry to extend beyond its typical realm of the fine arts to address important questions regarding the relationship between embodiment, aesthetics and performing arts. We conclude by considering some of the criticisms and limitations of neuroaesthetics, and highlight several outstanding issues for future inquiry. date: 2015-12 date_type: published official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.12.005 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1104199 doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.12.005 lyricists_name: Kirsch, Louise lyricists_id: LKKIR18 actors_name: Kirsch, Louise actors_id: LKKIR18 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews issn: 0149-7634 citation: Kirsch, LP; Urgesi, C; Cross, ES; (2015) The Shaping and Reshaping of the Aesthetic Brain: Emerging Perspectives on the Neurobiology of Embodied Aesthetics. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.12.005 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.12.005>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1474171/3/1-s2.0-S0149763415301007-main.pdf