Functional specificity and neural integration in the aesthetic appreciation of artworks with implied motion

Abstract Although there is growing interest in the neural foundations of aesthetic experience, it remains unclear how particular mental subsystems (e.g. perceptual, affective and cognitive) are involved in different types of aesthetic judgements. Here, we use fMRI to investigate the involvement of different neural networks during aesthetic judgements of visual artworks with implied motion cues. First, a behavioural experiment ((N = 45)) confirmed a preference for paintings with implied motion over static cues.