Beauty and the Brain: The Science of Neuroaesthetics with Dr. Anjan Chatterjee

Our guest today is Anjan Chatterjee, MD, FAAN. He is a Professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and has served as the Chair of Neurology at Pennsylvania Hospital. While his clinical work focuses on cognitive disorders, the focal points of his research are in neuroaesthetics, spatial cognition, language, and neuroethics. His multidisciplinary knowledge has won him recognition and awards. It has led him to author his book, The Aesthetic Brain, a study on how art has embedded itself into the human mind as investigated through the lens of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology.Dr. Chatterjee joins us to discuss the following:Dr. Chatterjee’s academic path from philosophy, to neuroscience, to neuroaesthetics.Are humans hard-wired for beauty?Individuals are influenced by culture, and culture is influenced by the collective.The Aesthetic Triad and how it is affected by moral judgments.Using beauty as a heuristic.Why humans can find beauty in non-sensory subjects.The questions asked by neuroaesthetics.What can we learn from exploring aesthetics in Science?Visit Dr. Chatterjee’s blog on Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-behavior-and-beautyCheck out his books: The Aesthetic Brain: How we evolved to desire beauty and enjoy art and co-edited Brain, Beauty, and Art: Bringing Neuroaesthetics in Focus as well as Neuroethics in Practice: Mind, Medicine, and Society, and The Roots of Cognitive Neuroscience: Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FHZZYOU/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1Brain, Beauty, and Art: Essays Bringing Neuroaesthetics into Focus (With Eileen Cardillo)https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LVVRY54/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0Neuroethics in Practice (With Martha J. Farah)https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXQ6PSU/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2The Roots of Cognitive Neuroscience: Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology (With H. Branch Coslett)https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HFPV4AI/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3Support us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/BeautyatWorkPodcastSupport the show