ART AS A KNOWLEDGE TOOL

Abstract

This article is about brain research. Recent developments in this area indicate the importance of the role of the cognizing subject and the inadequacy of the study of brain reactions. Often, the reaction of the brain to reality, the methods of its reflection of reality, lead to a dead end for many researchers. During one of the brain studies, it turned out that the main thing for primates to perceive the face is contrast. The eyes are always perceived as dark dips, the forehead and nose are lighter, therefore they appear bulging. Primates see a “face” even where an oval or a round object with a face-like arrangement of chiaroscuros is simply depicted. Researchers have noticed that almost all cells in a given area of the brain react in the same way, both in primates and in humans. These areas were called “facial spots,” there are six in each hemisphere of the brain in the temporal lobe.

The authors suggest that the spots are responsible for a phenomenon called "pareidolia." The name comes from the Greek words para “near, near; deviation from anything ”and eidolon“ image ”and means the ability to perceive ordinary objects as familiar images, in particular faces. The article assumes that the image of the face in painting also activates brain cells, which are responsible not only for recognition, but also for creative abilities.