Neural Correlates of Intellectual Pleasure - Perception and Appreciation of Creative Street Art

Poster Session D - Monday, March 31, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Aleksandra Domagalik^1,2 (aleksandra.domagalik@uj.edu.pl), Patrycja Scislewska^3,4, Halszka Oginska²; ¹Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, ²Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroergonomics, Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, ³Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Experimental Zoology, University of Warsaw, Poland, ⁴Laboratory of Emotions Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

The reward system of the brain is responsible for various aspects of reward-related cognition, including motivation, reinforcement learning, and pleasure processing. While much research has focused on sensory and monetary rewards, less is known about the neural mechanisms underlying intellectual pleasure— the satisfaction derived from cognitive insights and witty design. Building on the framework proposed by Kringelbach and Berridge (2009, TrendsCognSci), we investigated whether the brain’s ‘pleasure paths’ (wanting, liking, and conscious pleasure circuits) are engaged during the appreciation of creative and thought-provoking stimuli. In our study, participants (n=27, 23.5±3.7yo) viewed photographs of street art and graffiti from various European cities while undergoing fMRI scanning in 3T scanner. The artworks were categorized either as ‘pleasant’ (intellectually and aesthetically satisfying) or ‘neutral’ based on subjective ratings (photo was followed by question: How do you like it? with 5-pt Likert scale). Independent Component Analysis was used to identify neural networks associated with task processing and componets’ time-course were averaged across trials and compared for highly and low-rated. Findings revealed differences in two networks that involved key pleasure-related regions, including the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior insula, and anterior cingulate cortex, alongside areas typically associated with attentional processing. These regions were significantly (p<0.001) more active for pleasant stimuli. These results suggest that the appreciation of witty design and creative expression engage brain circuits commonly implicated in aesthetic experience, humor, and social communication. This study provides insight into neural mechanisms of intellectual pleasure and highlights the importance of cognitive engagement in the perception of visual art.

Topic Area: EMOTION & SOCIAL: Emotion-cognition interactions