Why can music move you to tears, while other times you walk right by it, not noticing? Why does some art freeze you in your tracks, but other times it's just a desktop screensaver? How does beauty happen in the brain?

In this episode we visit Paris! We'll explore museums, chapels, and subway stations on an expedition to understand your brain on beauty. You'll meet several neuroscientists who specialize in neuroaesthetics such as Andrew Chatterjee and Samir Zeki, as well as violinist Joshua Bell who conducted a social experiment in the subway that reveals a lot about how to prime your brain to find more beauty. Together, we'll learn practical ways to shift your perspective in order to find beauty even in the most mundane everyday moments.

The writer Leo Tolstoy said, “We are accustomed to understand art to be only what we hear and see in theatres, concerts, and exhibitions... But all this is but the smallest part of the art by which we communicate with each other in life.” By understanding the neuroscience of beauty, we can understand how to find beauty everywhere.

Resources:

• Learn more about my book at https://www.irenesalterbooks.com
• Original Joshua Bell in the subway video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw
• Joshua Bell returns to the subway 10 years later: ​​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJhZ0J3bIYc
• Anjan Chatterjee’s book, TED talk, and research on the three components to beauty in the brain https://www.ted.com/speakers/anjan_chatterjee
• Semir Zeki’s work on beauty and the mOFC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlzanAw0RP4
• The fMRI research on how shifting perspective shifts the perception of beauty https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-22048-052
• If you’re in Paris, go visit the Musee D’Orsay https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en
• And go see Rodin’s Dance at the Moulin de la Galette https://mymodernmet.com/renoir-bal-du-moulin-de-la-galette/
• Or listen to a concert in Saint Chapelle https://www.classictic.com/en/special/concerts-in-la-sainte-chapelle/216/

For complete show notes, transcript, and free downloadable resources go to: https://www.irenesalter.com/podcast