Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42507155›Full record

ArticleExperimental brain research2026

Media multitasking and the aesthetic brain: neural sensitivity to abstraction in the digital age.

Jie Zhang, Yiran Deng, Chenyu Guo, Ziyi Cao, Shiwei Liu, Zhijie Zhang

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Article in Experimental brain research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jie ZhangDepartment of Psychology, Hebei Normal University, No.20 Road East. 2nd Ring South, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang, 050024, Hebei, China.
Yiran DengDepartment of Psychology, Hebei Normal University, No.20 Road East. 2nd Ring South, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang, 050024, Hebei, China.
Chenyu GuoDepartment of Psychology, Hebei Normal University, No.20 Road East. 2nd Ring South, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang, 050024, Hebei, China.
Ziyi CaoDepartment of Psychology, Hebei Normal University, No.20 Road East. 2nd Ring South, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang, 050024, Hebei, China.
Shiwei LiuLibrary, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Zhijie ZhangDepartment of Psychology, Hebei Normal University, No.20 Road East. 2nd Ring South, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang, 050024, Hebei, China. zhzhj@hebtu.edu.cn.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China 32400856
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Human aesthetic preferences are dynamic and evolve over time. In the contemporary era of rapidly advancing media technologies, media multitasking has become increasingly prevalent, exerting profound influences on cognitive functioning. Since aesthetic experience arises from underlying cognitive processes, this study investigates how media multitasking affects individuals' aesthetic processing. Participants classified as heavy (HMM), intermediate (IMM), and light media multitaskers (LMM) assessed the beauty of representational and abstract images. The three groups exhibited distinct neural dynamics during aesthetic processing. Specifically, HMM exhibited a larger P2 amplitude and a smaller N400 amplitude for abstract compared to representational images, indicating heightened sensory processing for abstract images and more semantic retrieval for representational images. Furthermore, HMM showed a larger LPP amplitude for abstract images during both early and middle stages. For IMM, this effect was limited to the early stage, while LMM showed no significant differences across stages. These findings indicate that media multitasking may enhance the aesthetic processing of complex or ambiguous stimuli by facilitating the extraction and evaluation of relevant information. This research contributes to the neurobiological understanding of aesthetics in the media multitasking age and underscores the importance of considering evolving cognitive styles in anticipating future artistic trends.

Indexed as

BrainEstheticsEvoked PotentialsMultitasking BehaviorPattern Recognition, VisualAdultDigital MediaElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMaleMedia ExposurePhotic StimulationYoung AdultAbstractAesthetics processingEvent-related potentialsMedia multitaskingRepresentational

Identifiers

PMID42507155

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.