Abstract: Based on neural mechanism of the brain, Professor S. Zeki, known as the "father of neuroaesthetics", has made much research on human vision, aesthetic experience, aesthetic judgment, and the relationship between aesthetics and human perception, like that of color, form, and motion. This article analyzes Zeki's research on aesthetic experience and expounds how Zeki, through brain fMRI (functional magnetic resonance) scan, discovered that aesthetic experience can activate certain area of brain – A1 region of the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC). On this basis, the article not only discusses the definition of beauty, but also differentiates aesthetic experience from pleasure experience and other core aesthetic issues.

Key words: neuroaesthetics, Semir Zeki, aesthetic experience, the definition of beauty