This Is Your Brain on Art

Humans actively seek to create and consume art. Its compelling nature has been discussed in the humanities since its inception, and the philosophical branch of aesthetics has long investigated its fundamental questions: What is beauty? What is art? What is good taste? Now researchers are applying the tools of neuroscience in an attempt to find answers to these questions. But can the scientific method truly be applied to the study of art? Can brain scans help address the questions of aesthetics, or is the matter simply too abstract? John and Ken set their brains on art with Gabrielle Starr from NYU, author of Feeling Beauty: The Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience.