The Science of the "Before"

You know that thrill you feel before you’re about to go on stage? It’s like a jumble of nerves and anticipation and fear, all hitting you so hard that it feels like you just scored the emotional jackpot.

Turns out, this feeling isn’t just in your head, and it’s scientifically backed! In a 2011 study done by neuroscientists Ishizu and Zeki, they discovered a link between our perception of beauty and the activity in our orbito-frontal cortex. That’s the part of our brain involved in emotions and decision-making.

They had participants listen to music and look at visual art while in an fMRI machine, and regardless of the medium, the brain reacted the same both ways. The more “beautiful” the stimulus, the more the orbito-frontal cortex lit up.

In other words: beauty literally activates us. It doesn’t just happen when we see or hear it, but rather in anticipation of it. Our brain starts emotionally investing in something that we’re about to experience.

And honestly, that’s kind of crazy to believe. It shows us that the moment before has the same effect as the performance itself.

If you think about it, there’s a beauty in anticipation and longing. I suppose that’s where Shringara comes in. Because it isn’t just about romance, but that charged stillness. The moment before action, when the movement builds but hasn’t yet gotten there.

And even science agrees! The hesitation that we feel before performing is the beginning of our emotional growth, something to show us that when our body, mind, and soul work together, it can have a unique outcome.

So, maybe we shouldn’t try to rush it. The most memorable moments aren’t always the ones out in the open. Sometimes, they just live quietly in the “before.”

When was the last time you really noticed your “before”?

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Source -

Ishizu, Tomohiro, and Semir Zeki. “Toward a brain-based theory of beauty.” PloS one vol. 6,7 (2011): e21852. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021852