Linking the Neural Correlates of Reward and Pleasure to Aesthetic Evaluations of Beauty

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore the neural bases of pleasure and beauty and suggest that neuroaesthetics research may serve as a tool to deepen our understanding of neurodegenerative disease. Research on the link between dementia, depression, and the experience of pleasure has attracted increasing scholarly interest. Recent findings have revealed a relationship between frontotemporal dementia, anhedonia, and atrophy of the brain’s reward system (including the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum). By disentangling pleasurable and aesthetic experiences, and providing an overview of potential differences in their respective neural underpinnings, we present a new perspective on neurodegenerative disease, shed light on some recent psychopharmacological findings, and offer new directions in bridging neuroaesthetics research and clinical applications.