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      Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Jackson Pollock's Fractals

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          Abstract

          Fractals have been very successful in quantifying the visual complexity exhibited by many natural patterns, and have captured the imagination of scientists and artists alike. Our research has shown that the poured patterns of the American abstract painter Jackson Pollock are also fractal. This discovery raises an intriguing possibility – are the visual characteristics of fractals responsible for the long-term appeal of Pollock's work? To address this question, we have conducted 10 years of scientific investigation of human response to fractals and here we present, for the first time, a review of this research that examines the inter-relationship between the various results. The investigations include eye tracking, visual preference, skin conductance, and EEG measurement techniques. We discuss the artistic implications of the positive perceptual and physiological responses to fractal patterns.

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          Most cited references61

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          Fractal Dimension of Dielectric Breakdown

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            Natural Versus Urban Scenes: Some Psychophysiological Effects

            R. Ulrich (1981)
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              EEG-correlated fMRI of human alpha activity.

              Electroencephalography-correlated functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG/fMRI) can be used to identify blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes associated with both physiological and pathological EEG events. Here, we implemented continuous and simultaneous EEG/fMRI to identify BOLD signal changes related to spontaneous power fluctuations in the alpha rhythm (8-12 Hz), the dominant EEG pattern during relaxed wakefulness. Thirty-two channels of EEG were recorded in 10 subjects during eyes-closed rest inside a 1.5-T magnet resonance (MR) scanner using an MR-compatible EEG recording system. Functional scanning by echoplanar imaging covered almost the entire cerebrum every 4 s. Off-line MRI artifact subtraction software was applied to obtain continuous EEG data during fMRI acquisition. The average alpha power over 1-s epochs was derived at several electrode positions using a Fast Fourier Transform. The power time course was then convolved with a canonical hemodynamic response function, down-sampled, and used for statistical parametric mapping of associated signal changes in the image time series. At all electrode positions studied, a strong negative correlation of parietal and frontal cortical activity with alpha power was found. Conversely, only sparse and nonsystematic positive correlation was detected. The relevance of these findings is discussed in view of the current theories on the generation and significance of the alpha rhythm and the related functional neuroimaging findings.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Front Hum Neurosci
                Front. Hum. Neurosci.
                Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
                Frontiers Research Foundation
                1662-5161
                22 June 2011
                2011
                : 5
                : 60
                Affiliations
                [1] 1simpleDepartment of Physics, University of Oregon Eugene, OR, USA
                [2] 2simpleSchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales Sydney, NSW, Australia
                [3] 3simpleDepartment of Human Physiology, University of Oregon Eugene, OR, USA
                [4] 4simpleDepartment of Work Science, Business Economics and Environmental Psychology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Alnarp, Sweden
                Author notes

                Edited by: Luis M. Martinez, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Spain

                Reviewed by: Christoph Redies, University of Jena School of Medicine, Germany; Gert Jakobus Van Tonder, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Japan

                *Correspondence: Richard P. Taylor, Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 9743, USA. e-mail: rpt@ 123456uoregon.edu
                Article
                10.3389/fnhum.2011.00060
                3124832
                21734876
                efce136f-3e18-4b35-b959-b3cb70218c8c
                Copyright © 2011 Taylor, Spehar, Van Donkelaar and Hagerhall.

                This is an open-access article subject to a non-exclusive license between the authors and Frontiers Media SA, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and other Frontiers conditions are complied with.

                History
                : 14 February 2011
                : 09 June 2011
                Page count
                Figures: 11, Tables: 2, Equations: 0, References: 115, Pages: 13, Words: 9915
                Categories
                Neuroscience
                Review Article

                Neurosciences
                eeg,esthetics,fractals,visual preference,eye tracking
                Neurosciences
                eeg, esthetics, fractals, visual preference, eye tracking

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