DOCTORAL DEFENCE: Giacomo Bignardi (Max Planck School of Cognition)

From cave paintings fifty thousand years ago to ancient flutes and early poetry, what we now call art has accompanied humanity for millennia. Over hundreds of generations, art itself has outlasted empires, retaining the power to move us today: a patch of colour can unearth buried grief, a melody can provoke chills down the spine, a verse can become as vivid as a dream. Yet what makes humans so susceptible to the power of art remains elusive. Here, I argue that natural variation in sensitivity to the arts and its association with DNA differences between individuals can bring us closer to an answer, offering a window into the biological underpinnings of aesthetic experience. Drawing on family and molecular genetic evidence, I examine what genetics can tell us about sensitivity to art, music, and poetry, outline a framework connecting genes, brains, and remarkable aesthetic experiences such as chills, and discuss why some dimensions of taste appear free from genetic influence. Together, the evidence supports the thesis that DNA variation is associated with sensitivity to the arts and charts new territories for research.