Science Proves God Is an Art Lover
As Christians believe man is made in God’s image, it follows that the human brain should contain at least a few revelations of divine personality and traits. One of these appears to be a deep appreciation of art.
Researchers from Emory University School of Medicine in 2011 announced that our brains are innately and almost universally wired to enjoy art. Hard data and research backs up their assertions.
Emory scientists observed that a part of the brain (ventral striatum) becomes extremely active while viewing visual art, but not with similar images of other types, including photographs. This brain region is integral to reward and decision-making and also is involved with cognition, motivation, risk and novelty. This is significant stuff, and a blow to those who feel art is only a cultural crutch for people with too much time on their hands.
Participants viewed sundry images from celebrated artists, including Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and Klee, as well as unknown artists they had never seen before. Photographers matched these paintings with very similar scenes from real life-human, landscapes and abstracts. (I’d love to see the Picasso; it would have been a challenge to recreate). While viewing these, brain activities and blood flow were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To avoid study bias, researchers asked no opinions about the art from participants.
Results showed a stunning (biological) preference for art over other images of all types, across the board. Apparently we are wired in various, interrelated parts of our brains to react positively to art as a whole. Emory’s team found this was true even when viewers disliked the art itself. This buoyed their hypothesis that the “appeal of visual art involves activation of reward circuitry based on artistic status alone and independently of its hedonic value.” (Read more from “Science Proves God Is an Art Lover” HERE)
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