This Is Your Brain on Art: 25 Ways Art Illuminates How You Feel

When you stand in front of a painting that gives you chills, makes you weep, or feels just plain weird, you’re actually “exercising” your emotional brain.

According to a new study published in Scientific Reports, visual art doesn’t just evoke a handful of basic emotions like joy or sadness. It activates a stunning 25 distinct dimensions of aesthetic experience, many of which blend and overlap in subtle, transformative ways.

Researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of Amsterdam analyzed how over 1,000 people responded to nearly 1,500 artworks from around the world and throughout history. Using advanced computational modeling, they mapped participants’ emotional and perceptual responses, revealing a much broader emotional spectrum than past studies ever captured.

Beyond Beauty: What Art Really Makes Us Feel

The study’s findings are a game-changer. Yes, participants reported common reactions like admiration, serenity, and amusement. But they also described more unexpected experiences:

• Psychedelic/Cosmic: expansive, mind-bending sensations
  
• Mystical/Mysterious: evoking the unknowable or sacred
  
• Dreamy/Whimsical: imaginative, surreal states of mind
  
• Sensual/Desirous: deep body awareness and longing
  
• Chaotic/Disorienting: unsettling, but meaningful confusion
  
• Spiritual: a sense of the transcendent
  

Rather than existing in neat boxes, these emotions flow along gradients—like awe shading into serenity, or confusion morphing into fascination. The result? An emotional map that mirrors the complexity of real life while offering a mirror for self-reflection.

“Art doesn’t just reflect emotion, it trains us in how to feel it more richly,” says co-author Dacher Keltner, a leading researcher on awe and the science of emotion.

Why Art Matters for Midlife Well-Being

As we age, developing emotional granularity, or the ability to identify, understand, and express complex emotions, is linked to better mental health, lower stress, and even improved physical outcomes. In other words, your ability to distinguish between wistful, nostalgic, and melancholy isn’t just poetic; it’s protective.

This is especially important in midlife, when hormonal shifts, caregiving responsibilities, and identity transitions often blur our inner emotional compass. Engaging with visual art can help clarify what we’re feeling and why.

In essence, art becomes a training ground for emotional flexibility. Understanding the complex feeling stirred by art is a skill that supports longevity, empathy, and emotional resilience.

How to Try It: Your Emotional Palette Test

You don’t need to visit a gallery or buy expensive prints. Just do this:

1. Choose three works of visual art: Any era, any medium. Use a museum website, a book, or even Instagram.
2. Look slowly. Give each piece at least 30 seconds.
3. Ask yourself: What do I feel? What does this image seem to be? Use emotion-rich words like awe, mystery, grief, nostalgia, serenity, craving. Let them overlap.
4. Journal it. Write down what came up and what surprised you.Need some inspiration? Explore the interactive emotions map created by the study’s authors. It’s a beautiful tool that lets you explore emotional responses across hundreds of artworks.

The next time you feel drawn to a painting, lean in. What you feel when viewing art is a window into your emotional life and a surprising tool for midlife mastery.