Submissions are now open! The 2026 IAEA Congress invites researchers, scholars, and artists from different domains and countries to present and share empirical research on aesthetics, creativity, and the psychology and neurobiology of the arts and aesthetics.

How do our senses contribute to food enjoyment? We answer this question in a new review paper. The paper started as a final project in an undergraduate seminar on neuroaesthetics in 2023. I am so proud of the students and their hard work! cjur.ca/wp-content/u... @uoftpsychology.bsky.social

ReplicationResearch.org is now open for submissions! Submit replications and reproductions from many different fields, as well as conceptual contributions. With diamond OA, open and citable peer review reports, and reproducibility checks, we push the boundaries of open and fair publishing.

From line drawings to scene perception — our new review argues for moving beyond experimenter-driven manipulations toward participant-driven approaches to reveal what’s in our internal models of the visual world. 👁️✍️🛋 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

📢 Call for Abstracts! The 2nd Annual Conference on #AestheticDevelopment takes place on Nov 20, 2025, at the MPIEA. We invite submissions on how children engage with and develop through the arts. 🗓 Deadline: Oct 12, 2025 🔗 indico.ae.mpg.de/event/29/abstracts/ #Aesthetics #Conference

I finally have some new work to share - some thoughts on how we perceive style with a sprinkle of aesthetics, Fechner, and most importantly: labradors 🐕 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

In case you missed it, be sure to check out IAEA's newly redesigned website! You can learn about the society, become a member, learn about affiliated labs, and get info about our 2026 congress! iaea-aesthetics.org

A study in Nature Human Behaviour finds that four-day work weeks without a reduction in income boost workers’ job satisfaction and physical and mental health, driven by enhanced work performance, lower levels of fatigue and fewer sleep problems. go.nature.com/3Um75MP #econsky 🧪

What if animals find beauty in the world, just like we do? Brief article in Psyche: psyche.co/ideas/what-i...

@mskov01.bsky.social and @mnadal.bsky.social recently reviewed arts-based interventions: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... I got the opportunity to write a comment: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... TLDR: ABIs hold some promise but must be tested with the same rigor as other treatments.

The first two papers from the @leverhulme.ac.uk funded Music & Imagination project are now out, led by the fantastic @hazelvanderwalle.bsky.social! First, we built and validated a stimulus set of over 350 music clips varying in genre, familiarity, emotion, etc. doi.org/10.3758/s134...

Such an ambitious, important project. So happy to see it published

🚨🚨 Deranged letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon to Harvard’s president, cutting off federal funding for any new grants. Worth reading in full. It is NUTS.

Creativity as aesthetics in reverse? How does the Mirror Model of Art hold up when seen through the lens of neuroscience? It doesn't. New paper with Oshin Vartanian, Delaram Farzanfar and Pablo Tinio in Neuropsychologia. doi.org/10.1016/j.ne... @uoftpsychology.bsky.social @uoft.bsky.social

🚨 We're hiring! If you're excited about 🤖 ML/LLMs, 🧠 cognitive science, or 💭 computational psychiatry, come join us in Munich. Two fully funded PhDs @www.helmholtz-munich.de: tailored mentorship, international vibe, lots of room to grow. 📅 May 16th 🔗 hcai-munich.com/PhDHCAI.pdf

Ah, yes, now I feel like I’m properly back at work 😂

PhD position opening in Padova. It is a multidisciplinary project in Experimental Aesthetics and Psychology of Art. www.bertamini.org/lab/MIRACLE....

The cultural evolution of distortion in music (and other norms of mixed appeal). New paper (w Greg Bryant) on a weird social phenomenon, with a general model of how such phenomena evolve as ways to distinguish subcultures. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Our study is now out in @naturecomms.bsky.social! Here, we integrate large-scale registry musicality data from twins to investigate the genetics of music enjoyment 🧬🎶🧑‍🤝‍🧑

While we sadly had to say goodbye to Eva in the EVAlabs, two new people will have the chance to say hello to her at her new lab in Tübingen @iwmtue.bsky.social www.iwm-tuebingen.de/www/en/karri...

Phenomenal paper here from Quinn and Jones published in Nature Mental Health showing Group Arts Activitites can have moderate benefits for #anxiety and #depression for older adults. 🎨🖌️🎭👵🏻 www.nature.com/articles/s44... #creativeageing @naturementalhealth.bsky.social

So, I’m teaching basic biopsychology of vision this term - anyone want to share some cool demos I could show? #visionscience

"Our results suggest that art stands as a powerful tool for communicating negative information, that is otherwise costly and unpleasant to engage with... Art may serve as a gateway for staying engaged, and potentially facilitate knowledge, meaningful dialog, and action" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Examining the Connections Between Music Engagement and Social Well-Being: A Scoping Review: https://osf.io/mbkeh

I'm organizing a "Data for Good Rapid Response Team", i.e. a set of people who can be mobilized to work on short data science projects to help various groups and organizations. Sign up here if this is of interest to you, and please share with others with data science skills.

💃🧠 Psyched to share my latest paper in Neuron on the past, present and future of dance neuroscience research! Crazy to think where this field will be in 20 more years 🚀 authors.elsevier.com/a/1kkh3_KOmx... #PsychSciSky #neuroskyence #Dance #CognitiveNeuroscience #Neuroaesthetics #BrainScience

"Can arts-based interventions improve health? A conceptual and methodological critique" by @mnadal.bsky.social and I has been accepted for publication in Physics of Life Reviews. The pre-proof version is online at the following URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Tens of thousands of psychological measures have been created, but 79% are not reused more than twice. In a new article in NHB lead by @faridanvari.bsky.social and @ruben.the100.ci we quantify this fragmentation in psychology's measures and propose solutions. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

If you ever need to get all the important image stats for your study (quick, easy, comprehensive), here’s your shiny new go to tool:

Interested in fresh new #neuroaesthetics research? Want to hear from brilliant keynotes @neurobea.bsky.social, @anjanchatterjee.bsky.social & Fredrik Ullén from @ae.mpg.de, and an all-⭐ cast of speakers? Then submit your abstract & join us in Ascona🇨🇭 this Sept! Plz share! sbs.ethz.ch/conference.h...

We'll commit to a slice 🥧 Happy Pi Day!

Quite fascinating. Simple data, solid analyses, great sampling approach. Does it catpure all kinds of diverese relationships? No. (tough ask) Food for thought, for sure.

Are you looking for a Master's program? Are you interested in research on #art, #neuroaesthetics? 👀🎨🎹🏘️🧠 The new 1-year MSc in Cognition and Aesthetics at Liverpool Hope might be the perfect fit! rb.gy/pojlr1

Speaking of Paris... Our abstract submissions are now open! SfNC members are welcome to submit for our May 2025 conference on our new member website: www.tsfnc.org/sfnc2025-cre...

🚨 Inviting all Curious Agents 🔍👀 to attend our workshop @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social!! With amazing speakers from across disciplines, we attempt to arrive at the core principles underlying intrinsic motivations in biological and artificial agents 🎮🧠🤖💪 Website: sites.google.com/view/pimbaa2...

Hey hey! We‘re on the Cover of @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social. -check out our article on rhythmic representations in the visual system below. 👁️🧠🌊

Super interesting! But I cannot help to ask: What about the emotional impact of those artworks? What about their appeal?

Hello World! I made it back to (some) social media. With a new job in (of course) another country with some lovely colleagues who also work on #aesthetics and #neuroaesthetics. More news from Liverpool Hope, soon!