Beauty is in the brain of the beholder. One Quest University student is dissecting our rose-coloured perceptions.
Lila Stanners is one of nine students whose work will be soon published in the Scientific American Mind magazine. As a part of a fall class on rhetoric, Stanners and her fellow classmates were asked to write news articles about recent scientific studies.
The third-year student laid eyes on a study by Italian researcher Zaira Cattaneo that examined the role of a front part of the brain in aesthetic judgments. The assistant professor in neuroscience at the University of Milano-Bicocca demonstrated that the experience of beauty can be artificially enhanced with brain stimulation.
"[Cattaneo] was really interesting. That was probably the most exciting part, being able to talk to these amazing researchers," Stanners said.
By studying humans' reactions to "beauty," scientists hope to replicate the responses. What's got the scientific community buzzing is the idea that the practice could be used as a treatment for mental illness, Stanners noted.
"I have always been interested in neurology," she said. "We just don't really know that much about the brain."
After her time at Quest, the Ontario native hopes to attend graduate school and pursue the field. The Quest students' work will be published in March/April and May/June magazine issues. Students' pieces include topics ranging from bees learning abstract concepts to the practice of yoga in prisons as a way to reduce violence among inmates. Ariel Van Brummelen's article on who should pay on a date hits magazine stands this month.
It was interesting to see the editing and layout process an article goes through, Stanners said.
"I can't wait to see it," she said.
