Even after spending a few hours at a museum, there's still a chance you could leave feeling uninspired. The human response to artwork is highly subjective, but what if a little "brain zap" could make viewing art more intriguing?
Neurologist Zaira Cattaneo explored this concept in an experiment conducted at the University of Milan-Bicocca in Italy last spring. Once experiment subjects received brain stimulation with a transcranial direct current, the volunteers responded more favorably to classic art depicting scenes such as landscapes than before the zap treatment.
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Cattaneo's experiments with neuroaesthetics, a relatively uncommon area of research in the neuroscience community, involves the study of how the brain reacts to aesthetic elements.
The test group consisted of six males and six females — some of whom were exposed to electrodes that deliver a small current to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a brain area involved in processing emotion.
According to Cattaneo, the brain zap process is similar to "connecting the brain with a battery," where the low density current induces a tingly or itchy sensation. Some volunteers also received mock treatment with no current released.
Subjects were shown paintings from the realism, impressionism and post-impressionism periods, as well as abstract paintings, decorative sketches and photography. The experiment found a more positive rating to classic art, but the volunteers' reaction to abstract art did not change, most likely due to the zap stimulating other areas besides the DLPFC, the study revealed.
Volunteers participating in the study did not view human figures, a measure taken to avoid registering potentially conflicting neural signals related to brain areas involved in face recognition.
"My first master degree was in Philosophy, and I have always been fascinated by the concept of beauty, starting with Plato. I wanted to combine this old curiosity with neuroscience," said Cattaneo in an email to Mashable.
Image: Emmanuel Dunand/ AFP/ Getty Images