The effect of temporal concept on the automatic activation of spatial representation: From axis to plane.

Temporal concepts could be represented horizontally(X-axis) or vertically (Y-axis). However, whether the spatial representation of time exists in the whole plane remains unclear. In this study, we investigated whether processing temporal concepts would automatically activate spatial representations in a whole plane without any guidance or cue. Participants first indicated whether a word was past-related or future-related, then, they identified a target in different visual fields. In Experiment 1, the results demonstrated that past time mapped onto the left and top in a plane or axis, while future time mapped onto the right and bottom, with the horizontal effect being stronger than the vertical effect. In Experiment 2, an index of eye movement showed a similar data pattern. Thinking about temporal concepts activates spatial schema automatically without guidance or cue, and the time-space metaphor is represented not only as an axis but also as a whole plane. The results were discussed in terms of the possible cultural differences that made the Chinese participants tend to be more flexible in spatial representation of time because of their comprehensive thinking.

The embodiment of beauty: Evidence from viewing Chinese concrete words and pictographs.

How is beauty embodied? According to the viewpoint of embodied cognition, the aesthetic processing of words or pictographs has roots in their referential archetypes. Four experiments tested whether the beauty of referential archetypes was routinely activated during the explicit and implicit aesthetic evaluations of the font structures of concrete Chinese words and pictographs in congruent or incongruent font colour. Results showed font structures of simplified Chinese words and pictographs were judged to be more beautiful when they referred to beautiful archetypes; and this pattern was reversed when they referred to ugly archetypes. Moreover, judgement was facilitated when font colour was congruent for Chinese words and pictographs referred to beautiful archetypes. For those referred to ugly archetypes, judgement was inhibited in congruent font colour but facilitated in incongruent font colour, suggesting aesthetic perceptions of the font structures of Chinese words and pictographs were derived from their referential natural objects. The spontaneous generation hypothesis of beauty is proposed to account for these findings.

Neural substrates of embodied natural beauty and social endowed beauty: An fMRI study.

What are the neural mechanisms underlying beauty based on objective parameters and beauty based on subjective social construction? This study scanned participants with fMRI while they performed aesthetic judgments on concrete pictographs and abstract oracle bone scripts. Behavioral results showed both pictographs and oracle bone scripts were judged to be more beautiful when they referred to beautiful objects and positive social meanings, respectively. Imaging results revealed regions associated with perceptual, cognitive, emotional and reward processing were commonly activated both in beautiful judgments of pictographs and oracle bone scripts. Moreover, stronger activations of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and motor-related areas were found in beautiful judgments of pictographs, whereas beautiful judgments of oracle bone scripts were associated with putamen activity, implying stronger aesthetic experience and embodied approaching for beauty were elicited by the pictographs. In contrast, only visual processing areas were activated in the judgments of ugly pictographs and negative oracle bone scripts. Results provide evidence that the sense of beauty is triggered by two processes: one based on the objective parameters of stimuli (embodied natural beauty) and the other based on the subjective social construction (social endowed beauty).

Neural correlates for aesthetic appraisal of pictograph and its referent: An fMRI study.

As one kind of language symbols, pictograph has a graphical structure based on its referential object. Are the aesthetic qualities of these referential objects reflected in the cognitive and neural processing of the font structure of pictographs? In this present study, participants performed aesthetic judgments on both pictographs and their referential object images whilst acquiring fMRI data. Square luminance judgment was served as baseline to control for activity in motor brain regions associated with the key responses. Behavioral results showed both font structures of pictographs and their corresponding object images which refer to beautiful objects were rated significantly higher on beauty than those refer to ugly objects. Functional MRI revealed regions of occipital lobe, frontal lobe and inferior orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) that were commonly activated for pictographs and object images referring to beautiful objects in the direct contrasts between beautiful judgment and luminance judgment. Moreover, only the aesthetic judgments of beauty for the pictographs but not the object images elicited activation of motor areas, which implied relevant embodied experience was elicited during the aesthetic perception of novel pictographs. In contrast, activities associated with pictographs referring to ugly objects were limited to visual processing regions of the bilateral inferior occipital gyri, which could be due to the intentions of avoiding ugly or aversive stimulus. In addition, object images were associated with broader recruitment in cortical areas than pictographs, likely due to the increased visual processing demands for the more visually complex object images. These findings indicate that aesthetic perceptions for the font structures of pictographs were derived from their referential objects, which could arouse a similar sense of beauty supported by common neural mechanisms with other aesthetic objects.