This paper has a rather audacious purpose: to present a comprehensive theory explaining,
and further providing hypotheses for the empirical study of, the multiple ways by which …

There have been numerous attempts to explain the enigma of autism, but existing
neurocognitive theories often provide merely a refined description of 1 cluster of symptoms …

The processes underwriting the acquisition of culture remain unclear. How are shared
habits, norms, and expectations learned and maintained with precision and reliability across …

Emotional arousal enhances perception and memory of high-priority information but impairs
processing of other information. Here, we propose that, under arousal, local glutamate levels …

Previous studies suggested roles for curiosity and interest in knowledge acquisition and
exploration, but there has been a long-standing debate about how to define these concepts …

How to account for the power that art holds over us? Why do artworks touch us deeply,
consoling, transforming or invigorating us in the process? In this paper, we argue that an …

In this article, we develop an account of how aesthetic preferences can be formed as a result
of two hierarchical, fluency-based processes. Our model suggests that processing …

The last decade has witnessed a renaissance of empirical and psychological approaches to
art study, especially regarding cognitive models of art processing experience. This new …

Drawing on sociocultural theories and Bayesian accounts of brain function, in this article we
construe psychiatric conditions as disorders of social interaction to fully account for their …

Curiosity, creativity, and aesthetics are typically studied separately. The extent to which they
share psychological and neural mechanisms is not well understood, despite all being linked …