The Unconscious Memory Network is a forum where literary scholars and cognitive neuroscientists can discuss and exchange their research findings on diverse aspects of cognition.

This seminar in the neuroscience and literature series will explore ‘Significant Form’.

Semir Zeki (University College London) will give a talk on ‘The Neurobiology of Beauty’ which will examine Clive Bell’s concept of significant form as it applies to neuroesthetics, and in particular to the study of the neural correlates of the experience of beauty derived from sensory and cognitive sources.

Gerhard Lauer (University of Göttingen) will give a talk entitled ‘Is there an aesthetic experience in this experiment?’. Experimental research in aesthetics and neuroaesthetics in particular shed valuable light on cognitive processes of reaction to images. This paper will discuss how embodied mechanisms, the qualia of individual understanding of the arts, and the important differences between the arts might be integrated into the findings.

Chair: Professor Andrew Parker (Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics)
Convenor: Dr Sowon S Park (English) Dr Simon Kemp (French)