International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Application

Neural Correlates of Visual Balance in Abstract Expressionist Painting

Author(s):Maya Thornton, Sravani Pidipalli

Affiliation: Arora College of Engineering, Hyderabad

Page No: 47-52

Volume issue & Publishing Year: Volume 3, Issue 7, July 2026

published on: 2026/07/06

Journal: International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Application.(IJAMA)

ISSN NO: 3048-9350

DOI:

Download PDF Cite this article

Abstract:
Aesthetic experience sits at the confluence of perceptual processing, emotional appraisal, and learned cultural schema — yet the neural mechanisms by which the human visual system evaluates compositional balance in non-representational art remain poorly characterised. Abstract Expressionist works, in which compositional structure emerges from gestural mark-making rather than figurative content, provide a uniquely controlled stimulus class for isolating neural responses to low-level balance cues from higher-order semantic processing. This study employs functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a portable neuroimaging modality that measures haemodynamic responses via cortical oxygenation changes, to track real-time blood flow dynamics in the visual cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex as thirty-six participants viewed Abstract Expressionist canvases rated as compositionally balanced or unbalanced by an independent expert panel of art historians and museum curators. Balanced compositions elicited significantly greater oxyhaemoglobin (HbO) increase in bilateral V4 and lateral occipital complex (LOC) relative to control images, with attenuated prefrontal engagement — a pattern consistent with fluent perceptual processing requiring reduced executive monitoring. Unbalanced compositions, by contrast, showed heightened anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal activation, suggesting conflict detection and effortful attentional reorientation. Critically, these neural signatures were modulated by demographic variables including prior art training (F(2,33)=6.14, p=.006), cultural background, and self-reported aesthetic sensitivity, pointing to the role of learned perceptual schemas in shaping low-level cortical balance processing. A predictive model of aesthetic balance preference — incorporating haemodynamic response magnitude, stimulus symmetry metrics, and participant art exposure — achieved 79.3% accuracy in classifying individual preference ratings. These findings advance empirical aesthetics by providing the first fNIRS-based neural profile of visual balance processing in abstract art and establish a data-driven framework for understanding aesthetic universality and cultural variation in compositional preference.

Keywords: neuroaesthetics, visual balance, abstract expressionism, fNIRS, haemodynamic response, cortical processing, compositional symmetry, aesthetic preference, visual cortex

Reference:

• [1] Arnheim, R. (1954). Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye. University of California Press.
• [2] Berlyne, D. E. (1971). Aesthetics and Psychobiology. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
• [3] Chatterjee, A., Widick, P., Sternschein, R., Smith, W. B., & Bromberger, B. (2010). The Assessment of Art Attributes. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 28(2), 207-222.
• [4] Di Dio, C., & Gallese, V. (2009). Neuroaesthetics: A review. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 19(6), 682-687.
• [5] Gauthier, I., Tarr, M. J., Anderson, A. W., Skudlarski, P., & Gore, J. C. (1999). Activation of the middle fusiform 'face area' increases with expertise in recognising novel objects. Nature Neuroscience, 2(6), 568-573.
• [6] Higuchi, M., Ueda, Y., & Tanaka, T. (2016). Cross-cultural differences in aesthetic response to asymmetry: Behavioural evidence from Japanese and Western participants. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 34(1), 71-89.
• [7] Kawabata, H., & Zeki, S. (2004). Neural correlates of beauty. Journal of Neurophysiology, 91(4), 1699-1705.
• [8] Leder, H., Belke, B., Oeberst, A., & Augustin, D. (2004). A model of aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic judgments. British Journal of Psychology, 95(4), 489-508.
• [9] Reber, R., Schwarz, N., & Winkielman, P. (2004). Processing fluency and aesthetic pleasure: Is beauty in the perceiver's processing experience? Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8(4), 364-382.
• [10] Sbriscia-Fioretti, B., Berchio, C., Freedberg, D., Gallese, V., & Umilta, M. A. (2013). ERP modulation during observation of abstract paintings by Franz Kline. PLOS ONE, 8(10), e75241.
• [11] Semir, Z. (1999). Inner vision: An exploration of art and the brain. Oxford University Press.
• [12] Vessel, E. A., Starr, G. G., & Rubin, N. (2012). The brain on art: Intense aesthetic experience activates the default mode network. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 66.
• [13] Vessel, E. A., Isik, A. I., Belfi, A. M., Stahl, J. L., & Starr, G. G. (2019). The default-mode network represents aesthetic appeal that generalises across visual domains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(38), 19155-19164.
• [14] Winkielman, P., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2001). Mind at ease puts a smile on the face: Psychophysiological evidence that processing facilitation elicits positive affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(6), 989-1000.