The Beauty of the Brain: How Neuroaesthetics is Unlocking the Secrets of the Psychedelic Experience
This article answers the question: What is neuroaesthetics, and how is it helping us to understand the profound aesthetic experiences that people have on psychedelics?
Neuroaesthetics is a new and exciting field of research that is exploring the neural basis of aesthetic experiences. This article explains how this emerging subdiscipline is being used to understand the powerful and often transformative aesthetic experiences that people have on psychedelics. We will explore a key review article that outlines the synergies between psychedelic research and neuroaesthetics, and we will also look at other recent studies that are shedding light on the specific ways in which psychedelics can alter our perception of beauty, meaning, and art.
Have you ever been moved to tears by a piece of music, or stood in awe of a beautiful sunset? These are aesthetic experiences, and they are a fundamental part of what it means to be human. But what is happening in our brains when we have these experiences? This is the question that the new and exciting field of neuroaesthetics is trying to answer. And as it turns out, psychedelics may be one of the most powerful tools we have for exploring this fascinating new frontier of neuroscience.
This article will introduce you to the world of neuroaesthetics and explain how it is being used to understand the profound aesthetic experiences that people have on psychedelics. We will explore a key review article that outlines the synergies between psychedelic research and neuroaesthetics, and we will also look at other recent studies that are shedding light on the specific ways in which psychedelics can alter our perception of beauty, meaning, and art. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of how the beauty of the brain is being unlocked by the science of neuroaesthetics and the power of the psychedelic experience.
A New Lens on the Psychedelic Experience
A 2025 review article in the journal Neuropsychologia provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging field of psychedelic neuroaesthetics (Hooper et al., 2025). The authors of the review argue that psychedelics are a valuable tool for advancing our understanding of the neural basis of aesthetic experience. They point out that psychedelics can profoundly alter our perceptions and evaluations of the world around us, and that these alterations can provide a unique window into the workings of the brain’s aesthetic systems.
The review explores the many synergies between psychedelic research and neuroaesthetics. For example, they discuss how psychedelics can enhance the sensory, affective, and semantic dimensions of aesthetic experience. They also discuss how the altered visual features that people experience on psychedelics can reflect the underlying neural principles of visual perception. The authors conclude by offering a preliminary agenda for future research in the field of psychedelic neuroaesthetics, which they believe has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of both art and the brain.
This review article is a landmark publication in the field of psychedelic neuroaesthetics. It provides a clear and compelling vision for how these two fields can work together to unlock the secrets of the aesthetic experience. The next section will explore one of the key findings from this emerging field: the link between the aesthetic quality of the psychedelic experience and psychological well-being.
The Art of Well-Being
One of the most exciting implications of psychedelic neuroaesthetics is the potential to use aesthetic experiences to promote psychological well-being. A 2025 study in Frontiers in Psychology provides the first direct evidence for a link between the aesthetic quality of the psychedelic experience and positive psychological outcomes (Kettner et al., 2025). The study, which was conducted on a large group of people who had taken psychedelics in a naturalistic setting, found that the more aesthetically pleasing the experience was, the more likely it was to be associated with increases in insight and well-being.
This is a significant finding, as it suggests that the aesthetic dimension of the psychedelic experience is not just a side effect, but may actually be a key mechanism of its therapeutic effects. The authors of the study suggest that by creating beautiful and meaningful experiences, psychedelics may be helping people to connect with a sense of awe and wonder, which can be a powerful antidote to the negativity and hopelessness that are often associated with mental illness. The study also found that the aesthetic quality of the experience was a better predictor of positive outcomes than the intensity of the psychedelic effects, which suggests that it is the quality of the experience, not just the quantity, that matters.
This study provides a powerful rationale for paying more attention to the aesthetic dimension of psychedelic therapy. It suggests that by creating a supportive and aesthetically pleasing environment, therapists may be able to enhance the therapeutic effects of psychedelics. The next section will explore how researchers are developing new tools to measure the aesthetic quality of the psychedelic experience.
Measuring the Beauty of the Trip
To further explore the link between aesthetics and well-being in the psychedelic experience, researchers need to have reliable and valid tools for measuring the aesthetic quality of the experience. A 2025 study in Frontiers in Psychology reports on the preliminary validation and refinement of the Psychedelic Aesthetic Experience Scale (PAES) (Belser et al., 2025). The PAES is a new questionnaire that is designed to measure the various dimensions of the aesthetic experience that people have on psychedelics, including visual, auditory, and emotional components.
The study found that the PAES is a reliable and valid measure of the psychedelic aesthetic experience. The researchers also found that the scale was able to distinguish between different types of aesthetic experiences, and that it was correlated with other measures of psychological well-being. This is an important step forward in the field of psychedelic neuroaesthetics, as it provides researchers with a much-needed tool for quantifying the aesthetic dimension of the psychedelic experience. This will allow for more rigorous and systematic research into the link between aesthetics and well-being.
This study is a great example of the kind of foundational research that is needed to build the field of psychedelic neuroaesthetics. By developing new tools and methods for measuring the aesthetic experience, researchers are paving the way for a deeper understanding of this fascinating and important aspect of the psychedelic experience. The next section will explore how psychedelics can alter our gaze and attention during aesthetic evaluation.
The Eyes of the Beholder
To understand how psychedelics can alter our aesthetic experience, it is important to look at how they affect our perception of the world around us. A 2025 study in Scientific Reports provides a fascinating glimpse into how psilocybin can alter our gaze and attention during aesthetic evaluation (Muth, et al., 2025). The study, which used eye-tracking technology to measure the eye movements of participants as they viewed a series of images, found that psilocybin significantly altered the way that people looked at the images.
The researchers found that participants who were under the influence of psilocybin spent more time looking at the images, and that their gaze was more exploratory and less focused on specific details. This suggests that psilocybin may be helping people to see the bigger picture, to take in the whole of an image rather than just focusing on its individual parts. The study also found that psilocybin increased the subjective emotional intensity and feelings of flow that participants experienced while viewing the images. This suggests that psilocybin may be enhancing the emotional and immersive qualities of the aesthetic experience.
This study provides a fascinating look at the specific ways in which psilocybin can alter our perception of the world around us. It shows that the compound is not just changing what we see, but how we see. This could be a key mechanism behind its ability to enhance the aesthetic experience. The final section of this article will explore how the perception of symmetry is altered by psychedelics.
The Allure of Symmetry
Symmetry is a fundamental principle of beauty, and it is something that we are drawn to in both art and nature. But how do psychedelics affect our perception of symmetry? A 2023 review in the journal Symmetry explores the complex relationship between symmetry perception and the psychedelic experience (Makin et al., 2023). The authors of the review discuss how psychedelics can both enhance and distort our perception of symmetry, and they explore the neural mechanisms that may be responsible for these effects.
The review discusses how psychedelics can increase our appreciation for the beauty of symmetrical patterns, and how they can also induce the perception of symmetrical patterns in things that are not actually symmetrical. The authors suggest that these effects may be due to the way that psychedelics alter the activity of the brain’s visual system. They also discuss how the perception of symmetry is related to other aspects of the psychedelic experience, such as the experience of ego dissolution and the feeling of being at one with the universe.
This review provides a fascinating look at the complex and multifaceted relationship between symmetry, beauty, and the psychedelic experience. It shows that the way we perceive symmetry is not just a matter of simple geometry, but is actually deeply intertwined with our sense of self and our connection to the world around us. This is a key insight that is helping to shape the emerging field of psychedelic neuroaesthetics.
Conclusion: A New Frontier of the Mind
The field of neuroaesthetics is opening up a new frontier in our understanding of the human mind. By exploring the neural basis of aesthetic experiences, scientists are beginning to unravel the mysteries of beauty, art, and the profound emotional experiences that they can evoke. And as we have seen, psychedelics are playing a key role in this exciting new field of research. By providing a unique window into the workings of the brain’s aesthetic systems, psychedelics are helping us to understand not just how we perceive beauty, but also how we can use beauty to heal and grow.
As research into psychedelic neuroaesthetics continues, we are likely to see a new wave of therapies that are designed to harness the power of the aesthetic experience to promote psychological well-being. This could include everything from using virtual reality to create beautiful and immersive psychedelic experiences to developing new forms of art therapy that are specifically designed to be used in conjunction with psychedelics. The possibilities are endless, and the future of psychedelic neuroaesthetics is bright.
References
Belser, A. B., et al. (2025). Preliminary Validation and Refinement of the Psychedelic Aesthetic Experience Scale. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1648968
Hooper, J., Stoliker, D., Wolfe, K., & Hutchison, K. (2025). Neuroaesthetics of the psychedelic state. Neuropsychologia, 217, 109238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109238
Kettner, H., et al. (2025). Aesthetic quality of psychedelic experience is linked to insight and psychological well-being. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1533055
Makin, A. D. J., Roccato, M., Karakashevska, E., & Tyson-Carr, J. (2023). Symmetry perception and psychedelic experience. Symmetry, 15(7), 1340. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15071340
Muth, K., et al. (2025). Acute effects of psilocybin on the dynamics of gaze fixations during aesthetic evaluation. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 10206. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10206-8
Disclaimer: Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy has not been approved by any regulatory agencies in the United States, and the safety and efficacy are still not formally established at the time of this writing.