br Materials and methods br

Materials and methods
Results
Discussion This pilot study provides preliminary evidence that viewing images of architecture designed to evoke contemplation elicit withaferin a activation patterns that are remarkably distinct from those elicited by perceiving “ordinary” buildings. In particular, we observed the nearly absent involvement of the PFC in the Whole Brain analysis of the Experimental in relation to both Control, and its own Baseline; this area is commonly found to be activated in IN-I meditative states (Baron Short et al., 2010; Holzel et al., 2007; Manna et al., 2010). The differences are exemplified by the Whole Brain activation contrast between the two blocks: Ordinary buildings recruited executive control and attention areas (medial PFC BA9) in relation to fundamental motor regions (L. and R. Cerebellum), whereas contemplative architectures were associated with the activation of regions that participate in visual-motor interactions (Fusiform Gyrus BA37 and Postcentral Gyrus) and, importantly, mediate integration of multiple inputs including somatosensory activity (R. and L. Parietal Lobule BA40). The down-regulation of PFC (L. Middle Frontal Gyrus) activation may indicate that, while necessary, higher cognitive and executive functions are not central to architecturally elicited contemplative experiences. The brain activation induced by viewing ordinary buildings appears to depend instead on the activation of cortical areas that are primarily associated with goal oriented and semiotic driven tasks (not unexpected within the context of typical socio-cultural behavior). The strong engagement of the premotor area and the Inferior Parietal Lobule (IPL) in the Experimental block is consistent with this interpretation. The IPL has been reported to play a central role in the perception of emotions and interpretation of sensory information, as well as the body image by the virtue of massive interconnectivity between auditory, spatial, and somatosensory cortices (Lou et al., 2004; Radua et al., 2010). Moreover, this region directs certain kinds of attention (e.g., on task and saliency) and maintains the body image and spatiality with respect to the environment (Rozzi et al., 2008; Singh-Curry and Husain, 2009). Both areas contain bimodal and multimodal neurons that may integrate visual, tactile and vestibular information with bodily self-consciousness (BSC), providing the basis for the implicit and pre-reflexive experience of being the subject of a given experience (Blanke et al., 2015). The significant activation of these areas underscores the central role that higher-order sensory-motor function and ‘embodiment’ may play in the experience of contemplative buildings and thus its aesthetic nature, as also articulated by the study participants in their exit questionnaire. The down-regulation of the PFC as the contemplative experience deepened, was associated with “ambience,” “atmosphere,” “wholeness,” and “totality” (participants’ own words in the exit questionnaire). This provides insight into an EX-I state that is wide and panoramic rather than narrow and object-focused. The state appears to involve additional phenomenological components that expand on the perception of the external object or scene per se, and might mirror the differences between Open Monitoring (i.e., awareness observation) and Focused Attention (i.e., event or object-driven concentration) in IN-I meditation documented in previous studies (Travis and Shear, 2010). Because of their large size and complexity, buildings physically envelop us and transcend our immediate cognitive grasp. Thus, a proper utilization of architecture (as exemplified by the ‘timeless’ buildings used in this study), may induce states of awareness that are stable, all-encompassing, not self-centered, and cognitively/affectively resonant. It is noteworthy that the up-regulation of sensory-motor and premotor regions vis-à-vis progressive inactivation of the PFC is likely to demand less self-regulation and executive attention, thereby permitting the subject to maintain interest without effort. Consistent with this, we found that the aesthetic dimension – beauty, reward and emotion, as reflected in the first-person accounts of the participants’ experience – played important roles in differentiating the Control vs. Experimental blocks. In particular, the correlation between subjects’ attraction towards the viewing of contemplative buildings and up-regulation of sensory-motor areas suggests that arriving at an architecturally-induced “meditative” state is likely to involve a greater number and activation of brain regions compared to perceiving ordinary buildings. The differential recruitment of the Insula but not the Orbitofrontal Cortex during the Experimental (vs. Control) recorded in the uncorrected data (Tables D and E available as Supplementary information) supports the presence of a non-evaluative aesthetic experience. Precedents can be found in neuroaesthetics research, which has correlated aesthetic experiences with the activation of somatosensory and motor areas working in association with the IPL, the ACC and/or bilateral Insula (Cupchik et al., 2009). Our findings would suggest that the correlation between activation of the PFC/OFC and aesthetic states reported in previous studies (Di Dio et al., 2007; Jacobsen et al., 2006; Kirk et al., 2009) might be the result of considering the evaluative and not the contemplative dimension of aesthetic experiences. The observed down-regulation of the PFC, progressive deactivation of the dominant Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC, BA23) (along with the Precuneus BA31, shown in Table 3) together with the strong reduction of internal dialogue, additionally suggest that experiencing contemplative buildings may involve a disruption of the Default Mode Network (DMN), a possibility consistent with outcomes reported in IN-I meditation studies (Brewer et al., 2011). Our uncorrected results (Fig. 2-2, and Supplementary information in Tables D and E) suggest that the PFC and Orbitofrontal Cortex remain disengaged in the Experimental block whereas deactivation of the auditory/semantic center (Superior Temporal Gyrus) supports the disengagement of language/internal based processing. Taken together, our data shows that large brain areas associated with self-centered decision-making and executive attention are “silenced” following exposure to buildings designed to induce contemplation.