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Understanding the Neuropsychology of Aesthetic Paradox: The Dual Phase Oscillation Hypothesis
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Aesthetic delight is a unique and paradoxical psychological experience of simultaneous emotional exaltation and a state of serenity toward a percept when an individual experiences the percept with the approach of an art experiencer or artist. The primary drawback of neuroscientific investigation of art is that it fails to trace the functional coherence of the entire process of generation of aesthetic delight. At least 2 recent seminal works by Vessel et al. (2013) and Cela-Conde et al. (2013) tried to resolve this deficiency using 2 different neuroimaging techniques (fMRI and MEG respectively) and assessed the relevance of the Default Mode Network (DMN) of the brain in the generation of aesthetic pleasure. However, their works are yet to precisely highlight what primarily separates aesthetic experience from similar psychological experiences. This article formulates the dual phase oscillation hypothesis based on the neural correlate of the paradox of aesthetic delight, explaining the precise logic behind linking aesthetic delight and DMN activity. The hypothesis focuses on 2 seemingly paradoxical unique attributes of aesthetic delight: the phenomenon of suspension of disbelief (SOD), whereby the person experiencing art temporarily suspends the belief of surface reality, and the phenomenon of introspective detached contemplation, whereby the same person, while experiencing the same art, reflects on the artistic phenomenon and is simultaneously aware of the surface reality. The hypothesis proposes that aesthetic delight is the dynamic, oscillatory balance between SOD and introspective detached contemplation and is orchestrated by the functional coherence of the DMN. The article integrates the 2 previous works with the fundamentals of this proposal and thus offers a unique neuropsychological solution to the problem of aesthetic paradox.
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... I have previously proposed the 'dual-phase oscillation hypothesis' (Mukhopadhyay, 2014) to answer the problem of the 'aesthetic paradox'. The hypothesis proposes that aesthetic delight is the dynamic, oscillatory balance between Suspension of Disbelief (SD) and Introspective Detached Contemplation (IDC). ...
... SD is whereby the person experiencing art temporarily suspends the belief of surface reality and the phenomenon of Introspective Detached Contemplation (IDC) is whereby the same person while experiencing the same art, reflects on the artistic phenomenon and is simultaneously aware of the surface reality. The hypothesis is primarily based on two previous neuroscientific findings (Mukhopadhyay, 2014) which uses two separate neuro-imaging techniques (MEG and fMRI respectively) to find that art appreciation consists of two separate temporal phases. My paper (Mukhopadhyay, 2014) highlighted how these works could be integrated with my proposed hypothesis to attain a complete picture. ...
... The hypothesis is primarily based on two previous neuroscientific findings (Mukhopadhyay, 2014) which uses two separate neuro-imaging techniques (MEG and fMRI respectively) to find that art appreciation consists of two separate temporal phases. My paper (Mukhopadhyay, 2014) highlighted how these works could be integrated with my proposed hypothesis to attain a complete picture. The DPO hypothesis is based upon the fact that there is temporal segregation of phases in art appreciation. ...
This is a brief review of the Rasa theory of Indian aesthetics and the works I have done on the same. A major source of the Indian system of classification of emotional states comes from the ‘Natyasastra’, the ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, which dates back to the 2nd Century AD (or much earlier, pg. LXXXVI: Natyasastra, Ghosh, 1951). The ‘Natyasastra’ speaks about ‘sentiments’ or ‘Rasas’ (pg.102: Natyasastra, Ghosh, 1951) which are produced when certain ‘dominant states’ (sthayi Bhava), ‘transitory states’ (vyabhicari Bhava) and ‘temperamental states’ (sattvika Bhava) of emotions come together (pgs.102, 105: Natyasastra, Ghosh, 1951). This Rasa theory, which is still widely followed in classical Indian performing arts, classifies eight Rasas or sentiments which are: Sringara (erotic), Hasya (comic), Karuna (pathetic), Raudra (furious), Vira (heroic), Bhayanaka (terrible), Bibhatsa (odious) and Adbhuta (marvellous). There was a later addition of the ninth sentiment or Rasa called Santa (peace) in later Sanskrit poetics (pg.102: Natyasastra, Ghosh, 1951). According to ancient Indian aesthetics (especially in the context of Bharatas’ ‘Natyasastra’, Anandavardhana’s ‘Dhvanyaloka’ and Abhinavagupta’s ‘Abhinavabharati’), ‘Rasa’ is the relishable state of elemental human emotions called ‘Bhavas’. Bharata’s ‘Natyasastra’ originally spoke of eight Rasas. The concept of the 9th Rasa was a later interpolation by the Kashmiri Shaivist Abhinavagupta (10th Century AD) and also his predecessor Anandavardhana (9th Century AD). Abhinavagupta extends the eight Rasas by adding the concept of the Santa Rasa which he regards as the essence of all Rasas. It is this 9th Rasa which according to Abhinavagupta lets the Rasika attain the aesthetic detachment and savour the essences of all other Rasas and therefore the true aesthetic delight. The introduction of 9th Rasa integrates the concepts of Bharata’s Rasasutra and Patanjali’s Yoga theory – the detachment necessary to introspect inwards into the inherent state of freedom and bliss (aesthetic consciousness).
... The relevance of the Default Mode Network of the brain in relation to aesthetic delight was recently investigated in at least in two significant works by Cela Conde et al. (2013) and Vessel et al. (2012;. To understand the functional coherence of the entire process of generation of aesthetic delight the temporal dynamics of the Default Mode Network needs to be understood (Mukhopadhyay 2014). The use of complex natural stimuli is now preferred in recent studies along with neuro-cinematic approaches (Hasson et al. 2008;Carvalho 2011;Kauppi 2010;Wang et al. 2012). ...
... Using Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Cela Conde et al., (2013) categorised two different phases of aesthetic appreciation: a fast aesthetic appreciative perception formed within 250-750 ms time window and a delayed aesthetic appreciation performed within 1000-1500 ms time window. Subsequent fMRI studies by Vessel et al. (2013) and the 'dual phase oscillation' hypothesis proposed by Mukhopadhyay (2014) supports the occurrence of these two phases of art appreciation. What is worth investigating here in the context of Rossi and Henry's studies is that whether we can spatially and temporally locate the differential activation patterns of the cerebral hemispheres as well as the subcortical brain regions through fMRI and/or MEG while recording the neural signatures during art appreciation. ...
... It is worth noting whether the 'synthetic-gestalt' (Rossi, 1977, Table 1, p. 33) response of the right hemisphere shows a different temporal activation pattern in comparison with the 'logical-analytic' (Rossi, 1977, Table 1, p. 33) responses of the left hemisphere while analysing an art work. The fundamental patterns of the art form can influence the limbic system during the initial, fast aesthetic appreciative perception phase though the conscious representation of these emotional states may not have yet developed (Mukhopadhyay, 2014). It can be investigated through current neuroimaging whether this subcortical activation phase corresponds with the activation of the right hemisphere and whether this again corresponds with the 'synthetic-gestalt' response during art appreciation. ...
The definition of ‘Archetype’ typically refers to an original which has been imitated. The origin of the concept of Archetype in the traditional sense of the term refers to the primitive, universal perceptual imprint – a theory that dates back to Plato. The idea of the archetypal image is conceptually integrated with the aesthetics of visual arts and discussed under the guise of widely researched equivalent terms. The philosophical and scientific propositions on the concept of Archetype with reference to visual arts tended to have a neurological constitution even from ancient times. Starting from the 1990s, a radical outlook emerged in the field of cognitive aesthetics in the form of ‘neuroaesthetics’ which shows a significant potential in dealing with the problem of construction of the symbolic system in visual arts. Does the represented image of an aesthetically appealing artwork have structured within it the roots of an archetype? Is it innately constructed? And finally, is there at all any difference between pattern recognition among humans and other animals and the philosophical descriptions of Ideal, Form and Archetype? The review tries to interpret the development.
... A study by Mukhopadhyay proposes a similar notion in relation to the esthetic experience of paintings with his dual phase oscillation hypothesis (Mukhopadhyay, 2014). It describes how paintings co-ordinate two different aspects of our cognition. ...
Creative writing and cognitive neuroscience can jointly illuminate how literary writing can change our minds by enhancing our tolerance for uncertainty. From my perspective as a novelist, I will show how literary writing hijacks the mechanisms of day-to-day perception and orchestrates cognition to facilitate vividness of (imaginary) experience and insight. Drawing on examples from my novel and other research, I will discuss the role of uncertainty and literary devices such as contradiction and paradox in stymieing habitual assumptions while inviting the reader’s sensory imagination and conscious awareness, thereby creating an open space for insight. I hypothesize that literary writing promotes a form of dual cognition that involves both sensory experience and detachment, is therapeutic, and may share some of the benefits of mindfulness.
... The neuroscience studies have helped to localize "certain areas that respond to specific art attributes but have failed to offer a justifiable rationale how these regions work differently in cohesion outside their normal context to generate the distinctive feeling of aesthetic delight." 60 Such a rationale has been offered by an interesting hypothesis called the dual phase oscillation theory elaborated by Dyutiman Mukhopadhyay. It employs in practice the logic of paradox and its absolute dialectics that can be also traced and evaluated in the aesthetic categories presented above: the tragic, mono no aware and lacrimae rerum. ...
The paper is an attempt to investigate the intriguing convergence of the inner logic of three aesthetic categories that emerge from the experience of finitude of existence in diverse cultural environments: the awareness of the tragic in Western cultures, the Japanese category of mono no aware, expressing the painful beauty of things in their impermanence, and a famous Greco-Roman notion of lacrimae rerum (tears of things). All three – despite the deep disparities between the cultural traditions they represent – prove to be the ‘places’ of paradox, of powerful synchronic tension resulting from the ‘clash’ of contradictory forces, transforming one’s perception of the universum. It seems that it is the paradoxical nature of the experiences labelled by these categories (as confirmed by neuroscience) that allows us to confront our finitude with the aid of aesthetic tools.
... In a recent paper, the cognitive scientist and visual artist, Dyutiman Mukhopadhyay, distinguishes an early and a late phase of aesthetic appreciation [18]. He refers to the late phase as that described by Cela-Conde et al. [19]. ...
In the present paper the approach, as outlined in our previous articles, is applied to a range of subjects. Its main goal is to understand how human specifics such as use of language, cultural creativity, rational thinking and the use of abstractive terms interfere with human beings basic organic processes. This necessitates an examination at the level of semantics. The latter is referred to as the relationship of produced states to a meaning so that from a sender’s side they are meant to transport meaning from a receiver. Since an interaction of two distinct entities is at issue here, we have to describe the interaction in formal terms, so we talk about the hypostasising of a triggering contact of one entity’s change of states initiating a change of states of another entity. This contact can be accepted as a trigger or not as a trigger, a decision that corresponds to the most primitive form of (possibly also mutual) interpretation. With this model in mind, we can interpret different communicative settings, as the monomeric self-efficacy interpretation, or mutual interpretations in families. To interpret needs a physically memorised categorisation. Only this allows for fast and set-related attributions. Such categorisations can go wrong, especially in fast changing environments. If a higher resolution is needed, additional distinctions are implemented into the heuristic interpretative procedures. Human beings have additional tools for higher resolution in differentiation: practical segmentation and speaking. Afterwards, the products of material and logical discretisation may be re-combined into a new arrangement. The corresponding accessory potential helps to generate a world of its own, as a full-grown personhood. Human uniqueness hence is based on the individuality of each person’s material basis, as well as on its individual type of differentiation and corresponding attribution. Being aware of this, the also mental individuality allows to understand self-interpretative processes that support salutogenesis and an experience of being self-efficient, or not.
... In a recent paper, the cognitive scientist and visual artist, Dyutiman Mukhopadhyay, distinguishes an early and a late phase of aesthetic appreciation [18]. He refers to the late phase as that described by Cela-Conde et al. [19]. ...
In the present paper the approach, as outlined in our previous articles, is applied to a range of subjects. Its main goal is to understand how human specifics such as use of language, cultural creativity, rational thinking and the use of abstractive terms interfere with human beings basic organic processes. This necessitates an examination at the level of semantics. The latter is referred to as the relationship of produced states to a meaning so that from a sender's side they are meant to transport meaning from a receiver. Since an interaction of two distinct entities is at issue here, we have to describe the interaction in formal terms, so we talk about the hypostasising of a triggering contact of one entity's change of states initiating a change of states of another entity. This contact can be accepted as a trigger or not as a trigger, a decision that corresponds to the most primitive form of (possibly also mutual) interpretation. With this model in mind, we can interpret different communicative settings, as the monomeric self-efficacy interpretation, or mutual interpretations in families. To interpret needs a physically memorised categorisation. Only this allows for fast and set-related attributions. Such categorisations can go wrong, especially in fast changing environments. If a higher resolution is needed, additional distinctions are implemented into the heuristic interpretative procedures. Human beings have additional tools for higher resolution in differentiation: practical segmentation and speaking. Afterwards, the products of material and logical discretisation may be re-combined into a new arrangement. The corresponding accessory potential helps to generate a world of its own, as a full-grown personhood. Human uniqueness hence is based on the individuality of each person's material basis, as well as on its individual type of differentiation and corresponding attribution. Being aware of this, the also mental individuality allows to understand self-interpretative processes that support salutogenesis and an experience of being self-efficient, or not.
Narrative works by allowing us to entertain ideas as “secondary beliefs,” according to J.R.R. Tolkien. Using research in neuropsychology, anthropology, and sociology, this chapter explores the ways in which narrative fictions are held as objects of imagination in the mind by virtue of their ability to silence reality-testing and action-oriented mechanisms in the brain. Narratives can become more salient and memorable if they trigger areas on the brain associated with agency or have elements which are counterintuitive. If memorable enough and if allowed to permeate into the realm of “primary belief,” narrative can also spur individuals on to sacrificial action. Narrative, though, can also be promiscuously applied to conspiracy thinking, cognitive biasing, and groupthink.
Cognitive literary criticism engages the contemporary psychology and neuroscience of reading, consciousness, imagery, social behavior, decision making, empathy, and perception in order to gain new insight on literature and creativity. Recent models of cognition, emotion and behavior have begun to show the ways in which classical notions of dualism and literary notions of interiority poorly represent human experience and the representation of that experience in literature and the arts. Moving systematically through areas of critical interest, from metaphor to narrative, empathy, imagery, and reading itself, this chapter explores some of the potential of cognitive approaches.
The rostral prefrontal cortex (or Area 10) is a sizeable brain region that is especially large in humans compared with other animals, yet very little is known about what role it plays in cognition. This chapter contains three sections. The first reviews the existing empirical and theoretical evidence. The second presents a new theoretical account of its function that synthesises this evidence. The third section describes a recent series of experiments that demonstrate the plausibility of the theory. Rostral prefrontal cortex (rostral PFC) is identified as subserving a system that biases the relative influence of stimulus-oriented and stimulus-independent thought. This cognitive control function is used in a wide range of situations critical to competent human behaviour in everyday life, ranging from straightforward 'watchfulness' to complex activities such as remembering to carry out intended actions after a delay, multitasking, and aspects of recollection.
The brain displays moment-to-moment activity fluctuations that reflect various levels of engagement with the outside world. Processing external stimuli is not only associated with increased brain metabolism but also with prominent deactivation in specific structures, collectively known as the default-mode network (DMN). The role of the DMN remains enigmatic partly because its electrophysiological correlates and temporal dynamics are still poorly understood. Using unprecedented wide-spread depth recordings in epileptic patients, undergoing intracranial EEG during pre-surgical evaluation, we reveal that DMN neural populations display task-related suppressions of gamma (60-140 Hz) power and, critically, we show how millisecond temporal profile and amplitude of gamma deactivation tightly correlate with task demands and subject performance. The results show also that during an attentional task, sustained activations in the gamma band power are presented across large cortical networks, while transient activations are mostly specific to occipital and temporal regions. Our findings reveal a pivotal role for broadband gamma modulations in the interplay between activation and deactivation networks mediating efficient goal-directed behavior
The capacity to reflect on one’s sense of self is an important component of self‐awareness. In this paper, we investigate some of the neurocognitive processes underlying reflection on the self using functional MRI. Eleven healthy volunteers were scanned with echoplanar imaging using the blood oxygen level‐dependent contrast method. The task consisted of aurally delivered statements requiring a yes–no decision. In the experimental condition, participants responded to a variety of statements requiring knowledge of and reflection on their own abilities, traits and attitudes (e.g. ‘I forget important things’, ‘I’m a good friend’, ‘I have a quick temper’). In the control condition, participants responded to statements requiring a basic level of semantic knowledge (e.g. ‘Ten seconds is more than a minute’, ‘You need water to live’). The latter condition was intended to control for auditory comprehension, attentional demands, decision‐making, the motoric response, and any common retrieval processes. Individual analyses revealed consistent anterior medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate activation for all participants. The overall activity for the group, using a random‐effects model, occurred in anterior medial prefrontal cortex ( t = 13.0, corrected P = 0.05; x , y , z , 0, 54, 8, respectively) and the posterior cingulate ( t = 14.7, P = 0.02; x , y , z , –2, –62, 32, respectively; 967 voxel extent). These data are consistent with lesion studies of impaired awareness, and suggest that the medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortex are part of a neural system subserving self‐reflective thought.