Special Issue "Symmetry Processing in Perception and Art"

Guest Editor
Dr. Christopher W. Tyler
Smith-Kettlewell Brain Imaging Center, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, 2318 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA
Website: http://www.ski.org/cwt
E-Mail: cwt@ski.org
Phone: +1 415 345 2105
Fax: +1 415 345 8455
Interests: human symmetry perception; mathematical systems analysis; complexity theory; texture analysis; self-referential systems; symmetry in art; consciousness

Dear Colleagues,

Although symmetry is a fundamental organizing principle of the universe in both abstract conceptual sense and the explicit form of mirror symmetry in organisms, visual symmetry is not much in evidence in the natural world. A view of any purely natural scene shows few exactly symmetric objects, and those that are approximately symmetric are usually life forms of some sort. Thus, at the level of our perception, symmetry is something that is imposed on the world by animate organisms, either by virtue of their biological make-up or by the constructions of human civilization. This view is paradoxical in relation to artistic depictions, in which the background and compositional structure is often symmetrical, while the figures representing the action are usually asymmetrical. Similarly, symmetries of various kinds play a huge role in the composition of music, and may be regarded as the key factor that distinguishes this artificial auditory environment from undifferentiated noise. Thus, symmetry is a largely human concoction that weaves an interesting perceptual counterpoint through our understanding of, and interactions with, the world on the human scale of visual and auditory perception.

This conceptualization provides the motivation for a Feature Issue bringing together contributions on the rigorous analysis of human symmetry processing through art and perceptual studies of all varieties. Submissions are encouraged from the fields of neuroscience and neuroimaging, as well as the quantitative analysis of symmetry perception in art productions and laboratory materials, with a particular emphasis on the neural and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the unique human appreciation of symmetry and the drive to propagate it through our societal environment.

Dr. Christopher W. Tyler
Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Symmetry is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 500 CHF (Swiss Francs). English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• symmetry
• perceptual
• evolutionary
• neuroscience
• neuroimaging
• composition
• counterpoint