Neuroarthistory is a 21st-century art term coined by art historian John Onians of the University of East Anglia's School of World Art Studies, and neuroscientist Semir Zeki of University College, London. It describes the combining of their expertise to create a new discipline studying what goes on in artist's minds. Scanning techniques are used to study the brains of artists to find out more about how artists think, whether this differs depending on era to era and location, whether someone is a professional artist or amateur.
A press release entitled Cracking the Real Da Vinci Code from the University of East Anglia of 6 September 2006 on Neuroarthistory, says the new discipline can explain "why Florentine painters made more use of line and Venetian painters more of colour", for instance. Professor Onians is quoted as saying: "Until now we had no way of knowing what went on inside the artist’s brain – although Leonardo tried, using anatomy and observation. But now we are finally unlocking the door to this secret world. ... We can also use neuroarthistory much more widely, both to better understand the nature of familiar artistic phenomena such as style, and to crack so far intractable problems such as 'what is the origin of art?'"
