Neuroaesthetics expert Dr. Oshin Vartanian explains how interior design shapes your brain, supporting emotional processing, creativity, and well-being, often beneath conscious awareness.
This is Part 2 of a two-part series on neuroaesthetics. In Part 1, Dr. Vartanian explained how our brains respond to design elements like curves, contrast, and high ceilings, and why those preferences are rooted in neuroscience and evolution. Here in Part 2, we go deeper into the nervous system, creativity, and emotional regulation.
Together we unpack how subtle design choices, from natural elements to multisensory design, engage the brain in ways most people never notice: exposure therapy through design, brain homeostasis, and why the spaces we choose may be more connected to our nervous system than we realize.
⏱️ Timestamps:
(0:00) Introduction
(2:22) What mental and emotional health benefits can we gain by incorporating nature into our interior environments?
(6:53) Neuroaesthetics vs. environmental psychology: what’s the difference?
(10:27) Neurological mechanisms that foster connection, belonging, and unity through natural elements
(15:45) Cathedrals, multisensory design, and how sacred spaces affect the brain
(17:22) What’s the sweet spot for multisensory design load on the brain and nervous system?
(24:07) Design elements that support creativity + Dr. Vartanian’s personal story of rediscovering focus in a nostalgic space
(26:34) Pleasure versus joy in neuroaesthetics
(30:00) Portable EEGs, VR, and studying real-time brain response to space
(32:17) How design supports emotional processing and homeostasis
(35:12) Therapeutic spaces, fear rooms, and emotional alchemy
(39:35) Meaning-making in art, design and aesthetics
(41:24) Interior environments and personal development
(42:28) Common design mistakes & understanding the end user
(45:48) Flexible design features: ceiling height and cognition
(47:39) The future of neuroaesthetic research and unanswered questions
(49:52) How reward systems process beauty and space
(51:15) Where to learn more: IAEA, APA Division 10, and ANFA. See resources below for direct links!
(54:12) Closing and outro
In this episode:
How "fear rooms" and exposure therapy style design can help us move through difficult emotions.
How natural materials and multisensory design quietly shape your emotional and creative states.
The surprising ways your brain seeks balance through the environments you choose.
Why a higher ceiling makes you think more abstractly (and when a lower one helps).
Why personalization matters more than design trends.
The new tools researchers use to study how design affects the brain over time.
Guest: Dr. Oshin Vartanian is a leading voice in neuroaesthetics, a Professor at the University of Toronto, and President of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA). His research bridges psychology, neuroscience, and aesthetics, shaping how we understand the power of space on human cognition and emotion.
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