It obviously applies to the aesthetic appreciation of the environment. Mind wandering is a general process of perception neither guided by any goal nor directed to any particular aspect. However, the aesthetic perception might be a by-product of that general capacity for mind wandering.

Except in the case of recalling past experiences, detecting beauty depends on external stimuli. Although mind wandering can be useful, вЂњthe mind may wander simply because it canвЂќ ( Mason et al., 2007).ДЄesthetic perception is not a SIT. SIT could be a by-product of a general ability to manage concurrent mental tasks obtained during human evolution. A nonadaptive meaning was also taken into account by these authors. Alternatively, SIT would add coherence to one's experience-past, present. SITs would enable subjects to maintain an optimal level of arousal. Three possible explanations of the functional significance of mind wandering were offered by Mason et al. The SITs are what we might call вЂњthe mind talking with itself.вЂќ Mind wandering refers to images, thoughts, voices, and feelings that the brain spontaneously produces in the absence of external stimuli (stimulus-independent thoughts, SITs hereafter) ( Mason et al., 2007). A different question is that of explaining how this link between DMN and aesthetic perception appeared or, in other words, what characteristic of the DMN might lead to the sudden experiences of the beauty of a picture or a landscape.ДЄn added function of the DMN relates to вЂњmind-wanderingвЂќ processes. As Raichle and Snyder (2007) held вЂњintrinsic activity instantiates the maintenance of information for interpreting, responding to and even predicting environmental demands.вЂќ This functional capacity seems adaptive enough to justify by itself its metabolic costs, and it is performed by means of вЂњmind-wanderingвЂќ processes, in which DMN seems to play a fundamental role.ДЄ DMN phylogenetically fixed and linked to aesthetic perception is sufficient to justify such human capacity for appreciating beauty in objects. However, a complementary justification for the evolution of capacities for appreciating beauty may be given by pointing out the coincidence between the delayed aesthetic network and the DMN.ДЄ fundamental function of the DMN is facilitating responses to stimuli.

Obviously, any hypothesis about the subject would be difficult to test. (2011) hold that вЂњsuch a system evolved first for the appraisal of objects of survival advantage, such as food sources, and was later coopted in humans for the experience of artworks for the satisfaction of social needs.вЂќ

Focusing on positive-valence aesthetic appraisal, Brown et al. For instance, Kaplan (1987) states that вЂњIt would be adaptive for animals to like the sort of settings in which they thrive.вЂќ Thus, preference for landscapes would have led to preference for ornaments like gardens. In other words, aesthetics might be just an exaptation. It has been posited that aesthetic perception does not need to imply any adaptive advantage, since it could profit from other previously evolved cognitive characteristics with their own adaptive benefits. Ayala, in Progress in Brain Research, 2018 7 Aesthetic Appreciation as an Exaptation

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