If thinking about your home surroundings triggers stress and anxiety, it may be time for
a makeover.
While the notion that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is not new, the emerging
corner of science called Neuroaesthetics challenges this position, giving prima facie
evidence for the discipline of study that bridges cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and
aesthetics by researching the brain mechanisms that are engaged during aesthetic and
similar encounters.
Semir Zeki, its founder, is professor of Neuroaesthetics at University College London,
and is credited for coining the term in 1999. Zeki has studied what happens in a
person’s brain when they look at a painting or listen to a piece of music that they find
beautiful and what happens when viewing something that strikes them as ugly.
He discovered that when his study’s subjects experienced a piece of art or music they
described as beautiful, their medial orbito-frontal cortex — the part of the brain just
behind their eyes — ‘lit up’ in brain scans. Whereas art they found ugly stimulated their
motor cortex instead. Zeki found that whether the beauty came through their ears, in
music, or their eyes, in art, the brain’s response was the same — it had increased blood
flow to what is known as its pleasure center. Beauty gave the brains a dopamine
reward.
An analysis of Zeki’s findings support the idea that beautiful art and other aesthetic
experiences as found in architecture and design, are not so subjective, but objective.
They also support the notion that beauty is rational and has a divine origin.
Consider the equation of beauty—1.618, known as the “golden ratio” and the “divine
proportion,” which explains why our eyes inherently love forms that encapsulate this
ratio and why many classical artists and interior designers incorporate it into their work.
Even if you ask AI its generally perceived to be true. Beauty is not just subjective
preference but has an objective rational basis linked to principals of order, harmony, and
proportion like those found in mathematics and nature. For example, early thinkers, like
the Greek philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras, linked beauty to mathematical
rations and proportions, seeing fundamental order in music, nature, and art that was
both rational and beautiful.
Because viewing beauty influences the mechanisms of brain activity to produce
dopamine and lower stress hormones, it behooves us to design living spaces that bring
us joy, while also lowering stress.
Dr. Lizbeth Alter, physician and founder of Complete Wellness located in Coral Gables,
FL, supports this claim.
“Serene environments, such as natural landscapes or thoughtfully designed spaces,
can reduce stress and cortisol, fostering relaxation and mental well-being, whereas
chaotic, cluttered settings can elevate stress and cortisol, heightening anxiety and
impairing concentration,” Alter said.
As an interior designer, I have explored why beauty is so powerful. It’s worth
noting here that beauty is also the reason why staged homes sell more quickly
and for top dollar. It was my own uplifting experience with beautiful spaces that
led me to pursue a career in interior design, while also promoting the key
relationship between thoughtful surroundings and personal wellbeing.
Beauty is not merely a luxury, but a staple for a well-balanced life. When designing a
home for yourself, or others to enjoy, it is not enough to simply declutter. Instead, go for
the dopamine-inducing state of wonderment that will grant life-changing dividends for
you, your family, and your community.
