PERIODIC AND APERIODIC SPECTRAL SIGNATURES OF BEING MOVED BY ART

Intense aesthetic experiences involve distinct neural states rather than simply stronger versions of ordinary responses. Electroencephalography recordings from 22 Chilean participants viewing 113 artworks revealed threshold-specific neurodynamics: beta-band power and its interaction with the aperiodic 1/f exponent predicted the transition to the most intense response during viewing, while the aperiodic exponent alone predicted the shift from very low to higher intensity after viewing. Individual differences in alpha and gamma activity improved predictive performance, indicating meaningful neural variability in aesthetic processing. These findings support the hypothesis that being intensely moved constitutes a qualitatively distinct neural state.

Study at a glance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Intense aesthetic experiences are among the most complex responses arising from the interaction of mind, brain, and context. Observations from fMRI suggest that when viewers feel highly moved by artworks, the underlying neural states differ from those accompanying less intense responses, particularly through recruitment of the DMN. Using electroencephalography and Bayesian category-specific cumulative link mixed models, we investigated whether such putative peak aesthetic responses exhibit threshold-specific neurodynamics rather than linear scaling with intensity. Twenty-two Chilean participants viewed 113 diverse local artworks whilst rating how moved they felt on a four-point scale. We analysed both canonical oscillatory power (θ–γ) and aperiodic components (offset and exponent) during the contemplation window and the post-elicitor window. Threshold-specific effects were found: spectral features differentiated the highest rating category from moderate responses, rather than scaling uniformly across all intensity levels. During artwork visualisation, power in the β 1 and β 2 bands, as well as the interaction of β 1 with the 1/f exponent, predicted the transition to the most intense response; during the post-elicitor window, the aperiodic 1/f exponent predicted the transition from very low to higher-intensity responses. Modelling individual differences in spectral signatures (in the α and γ bands) credibly improved predictive performance (approximate leave-one-out cross-validation; elpd_loo), suggesting that neural variability reflects meaningful mechanistic heterogeneity in aesthetic processing rather than mere noise. These findings speak to a broader question, how the brain marks the intensity of conscious experience, and, more specifically, support the hypothesis that being intensely moved constitutes a qualitatively distinct neural state, characterised by specific configurations of oscillatory dynamics and cortical excitability that modulate the transition from low and moderate to peak engagement.