Self and Emotion 201“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanityabout art. I would like to emphasize two points. First, art exerts a strong
cohesive force for social bonding, which is important for the success
of a group (a collective self) in a competitive world; this point will be
elaborated in Chapter 12: The Expanded Self: Society as Self. Second,
art has biological roots. I assume some form of aesthetic experience is
present across species, the difference being in degree rather than kind.
For example, highly elaborate and energy-draining courtship rituals are
present in all members of the animal kingdom. Nature would not have
invested in such costly behaviors if they were not essential for the con-
tinuation of species. Frogs croak, owls caw, and humans serenade under
the moonlit sky, all to a common theme of affection, longing, yearning,
and passion, awaiting to be consummated. Imagine how many immor-
tal poems can retain their luster, and how many novels and operas will
remain soul stirring, if their amorous theme is stripped away. It is true
that art in the human world conveys much more than erotic feeling,
but just the same, all forms of art — music, painting, dance, literature,
and even movies — are expressions of emotion through an external
medium.45,46
What is the neurological basis of art? Scientists were at a loss facing
this problem, but evidence is accumulating rapidly that art does acti-
vate the motivation/reward system of the brain. Using functional MRI
on live human brains, scientists have discovered that music enjoyment
activates a network of mesolimbic reward centers including the nucleus
accumbens, the ventral tegmental area, and the ventromedial prefrontal
cortex, along with dopamine release.^47 Like music,^ visual art activates the
same brain areas, even in the same person, confirming a common mech-
anism for aesthetic enjoyment.48,49
Nonetheless, it remains to be explained why some sensory percep-
tions (in case of art) lead to activation of the reward centers whereas
others (non-art) do not. For example, we do not know how certain com-
binations of harmony, rhythm, timbre and melody sparks the enjoyment
of a piece of music; or how certain placement of colors, shapes, and lines
triggers the pleasure of viewing a painting.