A Fisher Information Theory of Aesthetic Preference for Complexity.

When evaluating sensory stimuli, people tend to prefer those with not too little or not too much complexity. A recent theoretical proposal for this phenomenon is that preference has a direct link to the Observed Fisher Information that a stimulus carries about the environment. To make this theory complete, one must specify the model that the brain has about complexities in the world.

Social groups and polarization of aesthetic values from symmetry and complexity.

When deciding what images we prefer, our brain must weigh many aesthetic variables, such as symmetry and complexity. To date, aesthetic research has mainly focused on investigating one variable at a time. In this article, we use symmetry and complexity to study the problem of multi aesthetic-variable interactions.

Systematic errors in the perception of rhythm.

One hypothesis for why humans enjoy musical rhythms relates to their prediction of when each beat should occur. The ability to predict the timing of an event is important from an evolutionary perspective. Therefore, our brains have evolved internal mechanisms for processing the progression of time.

Does Amount of Information Support Aesthetic Values?

Obtaining information from the world is important for survival. The brain, therefore, has special mechanisms to extract as much information as possible from sensory stimuli. Hence, given its importance, the amount of available information may underlie aesthetic values.

Evolution of Neuroaesthetic Variables in Portrait Paintings throughout the Renaissance.

To compose art, artists rely on a set of sensory evaluations performed fluently by the brain. The outcome of these evaluations, which we call neuroaesthetic variables, helps to compose art with high aesthetic value. In this study, we probed whether these variables varied across art periods despite relatively unvaried neural function.

A Theoretical Framework for How We Learn Aesthetic Values.

How do we come to like the things that we do? Each one of us starts from a relatively similar state at birth, yet we end up with vastly different sets of aesthetic preferences. These preferences go on to define us both as individuals and as members of our cultures. Therefore, it is important to understand how aesthetic preferences form over our lifetimes.

Inferring Master Painters' Esthetic Biases from the Statistics of Portraits.

The Processing Fluency Theory posits that the ease of sensory information processing in the brain facilitates esthetic pleasure. Accordingly, the theory would predict that master painters should display biases toward visual properties such as symmetry, balance, and moderate complexity. Have these biases been occurring and if so, have painters been optimizing these properties (fluency variables)? Here, we address these questions with statistics of portrait paintings from the Early Renaissance period.