The Aesthetic Brain ─ How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art

"The Aesthetic Brain takes the reader on a wide-ranging journey addressing fundamental questions about aesthetics and art. Using neuroscience and evolutionary psychology, Chatterjee shows how beauty, pleasure, and art are grounded biologically, and offers explanations for why beauty, pleasure, and art exist at all"--

Anjan Chatterjee, MD, is a Professor of Neurology, and a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and the Center for Neuroscience and Society at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the editorial boards of: Empirical Studies of the Arts, Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, Behavioural Neurology, Neuropsychology, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, European Neurology, The Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience, Brain Science, and Policy Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology. In 2002, he was awarded the Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology by the American Academy of Neurology. He is the President of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics and the President of the Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology Society. His neurology practice focuses on patients with cognitive disorders. His research focuses on spatial cognition, language, ethics, and aesthetics. He has published over 125 peer-reviewed papers and co-edited Neuroethics in Practice: Medicine, Mind, and Society.