From Neuroscience to Art: The Role of "Vitality Forms" in the Investigation of Multimodality

Art Style | Art & Culture International Magazine

Abstract

By observing how actions are performed or by listening to how words are pronounced, people can understand the affective state of others. For example, someone can perform a hand gesture vigorously or kindly or can use a pleasant or unpleasant tone of voice. These fundamental aspects of social interactions, named “vitality forms” by Daniel Stern, enable the receiver and bystanders to understand if the attitude of the agent is negative or positive. Several fMRI studies have investigated the neural correlates of these forms of communication, showing that the dorso-central insula is selectively involved in the processing of vitality forms, regardless the modality in which they are conveyed. In addition to multimodal properties, the dorso-central insula is endowed with a mirror mechanism which, differently from the original one discovered in the parietal and frontal areas, specific for the action goal understanding, might allow us to express our own mood and to understand those of others. Besides social interactions, the mirror mechanism located in the insula plays a crucial role in other aspects of human life. One is the aesthetic experience. In this regard, many studies have proposed that particular artist’s creative gestures, like brushstrokes or cuts on the canvas, are the visible traces of goal-directed movements and they should be capable of activating motor areas in the observers’ brain. More interestingly, if we associate the same idea to the mirror mechanism of the insula, some properties of the artwork would be processed in the dorso-central insula as results of specific vitality forms. This fascinating hypothesis suggests the possibility of internalizing the vitality forms transmitted by the artistic creation and remapping them in our motor scheme. This would allow not only to relive the artist’s action but also his/her affective state, ensuring a complete aesthetic experience.