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date: 23 May 2022

Abstract and Keywords

One important method that can be applied for gaining an understanding of the implementation of aesthetics in the brain is that of electrophysiology. Cognitive electrophysiology, in particular, allows the identification of components in a mental processing architecture. The present chapter reviews findings in the neurocognitive psychology of aesthetics, or neuroaesthetics, that have been obtained with the method of event-related brain potentials (ERPs), as derived from the human electroencephalogram (EEG). The cognitive-perceptual bases, as well as affective sub-stages of aesthetic processing have been investigated, and those are described here. The ERP method allows for the identification of mental processing modes in cognitive and aesthetic processing. It also provides an assessment of the mental chronometry of cognitive and affective stages in aesthetic appreciation. As the work described here shows, distinct processes in the brain are engaged in aesthetic judgments.

Keywords: Neuroaesthetics, neurocognitive psychology of aesthetics, aesthetic processing, event-related brain potentials, EEG and aesthetics, ERP and aesthetics

Thomas Jacobsen

Thomas Jacobsen, Helmut-Schmidt-University, Psychology

Stina Klein

Stina Klein, Helmut-Schmidt-University, Psychology

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