The Beholder's Share: Bridging art and neuroscience to study individual differences in subjective experience

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Durkin, Celia; Apicella, Marc; Baldassano, Christopher; Kandel, Eric; Shohamy, Daphna
• 署名单位: Columbia University; Columbia University; Columbia University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13144
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2413871122
• 发表日期: 2025-04-15
• 关键词: DECISION-MAKING; neural basis; brain; perception; motion; REPRESENTATION; segmentation; REGISTRATION; accurate; robust

摘要

Our experience of the world is inherently subjective, shaped by individual history, knowledge, and perspective. Art offers a framework within which this subjectivity is practiced and promoted, inviting viewers to engage in interpretation. According to art theory, different forms of art-ranging from the representational to the abstract-challenge these interpretive processes in different ways. Yet, much remains unknown about how art is subjectively interpreted. In this study, we sought to elucidate the neural and cognitive mechanisms that underlie the subjective interpretation of art. Using brain imaging and written descriptions, we quantified individual variability in responses to paintings by the same artists, contrasting figurative and abstract paintings. Our findings revealed that abstract art elicited greater interindividual variability in activity within higher-order, associative brain areas, particularly those comprising the default-mode network. By contrast, no such differences were found in early visual areas, suggesting that subjective variability arises from higher cognitive processes rather than differences in sensory processing. These findings provide insight into how the brain engages with and perceives different forms of art and imbues it with subjective interpretation.