An Evolutionary and Neurobiological Approach to Art as a Communication of the Affect-Encoded Self

This goal of this thesis will be to formulate a model of normative aesthetic functioning. To investigate the biological basis of what has been termed the art instinct, our model must begin in the context of contemporary neurobiological accounts of consciousness. Both Merlin Donald and Antonio Damásio have formulated theories of consciousness that are consistent with our understanding of evolutionary psychology and neurobiology. Donald’s model posits an historical account of the neuro-anthropological evolution of the mind whereby cognitive function moves from pre-linguistic symbolic structures reflecting embodied experience to properly symbolic structures. Damásio’s model responds to the empirical research suggesting that cognition is grounded in affect and serves basic survival needs. Both authors suggest that most brain activity is unconscious and operates in terms of non-verbal structures, a view that is supported by recent scientific literature investigating the role of unconscious computations in cognitive and perceptual processing. I will then present my view of art as a communication of affect-imbued qualia with adaptive qualities that are rooted in the symbiotic relationship between the individual and the group. The view offers answers to key questions facing theories of aesthetics, particularly the problem of the definition of art and the subconscious processes of artistic experience. An exploration of key neuroaesthetic studies that support this view will follow, with a particular emphasis on the mirroring mechanisms between production and perception of art. I will then examine the role of the human insula, a key brain structure for taste perception among multiple other functions, as a consistently active node in brain networks that process art appraisal. The role of the insula in integrating the multimodal dimensions of art and other stimuli sheds further light on some evolutionary aspects of art, which will be explored from a neurobiological standpoint as well as through some peculiar aspects of ordinary language use. The last section will be devoted to some clinical examples of art production in individuals with brain disease in support of the instinctual origin and serendipitous maturation of art.

Author

• Koubeissi, Mohamad Zakaria

Language

• en

Keyword

• Art
• Evolution
• Neuroaesthetics
• Disability
• Insula
• Aesthetics

Date created

• 2020

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• English

Degree

• M.A.

Advisor

• Alcorn, Marshall

Committee Member(s)

• Mitchell, David

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/9w0323748