Being told painting is fake changes brain’s response to art

Being told that a work of art is authentic or fake alters the brain's response to the visual content of artwork, Oxford University academics have found. Fourteen participants were placed in a brain scanner and shown images of works by 'Rembrandt' - some were genuine, others were convincing imitations painted by different artists. Neither the participants nor their brain signals could distinguish between genuine and fake paintings. However, advice about whether or not an artwork is authentic alters the brain's response; this advice is equally effective, regardless of whether the artwork is genuine or not. The study, published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience , was carried out by Professor Andrew Parker and Mengfei Huang of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, in collaboration with Holly Bridge at the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) and Professor Martin Kemp of Oxford University's History Faculty. Professor Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor of the History of Art at Oxford University, said: 'Our findings support what art historians, critics and the general public have long believed - that it is always better to think we are seeing the genuine article. Our study shows that the way we view art is not rational, that even when we cannot distinguish between two works, the knowledge that one was painted by a renowned artist makes us respond to it very differently.