Art meets science: from aesthetics to neurosciences

The article deals with the relations between art and science, from both neuroscientific and psychosocial points of view. The different contribution of science to producing and perceiving art is outlined, starting from the definition of some mechanisms of psychological resonance activated in creating and appreciating art-works. The neuroscientific approaches to art are described, and their limits in grasping the essential aspects of the symbolic artistic communication varying between people and cultures. As a common element shared by science and art, creative imagination is proposed: i.e., a mediator between nature and culture, and between the biological and social mechanisms of creativity. Science is useful for producing art and understanding the perception of artworks, but it is similar to art when produces novelty and uses imagination in a creative way. The creation of both science and art requires imagining a reality different from the present, and the creation in the mind of something different from the given stimulus. But, while the scientific work must be adaptable into rational methods and languages, the artwork can remain extraneous to the rationality.