In a recent interview with The New York Times, PEM’s executive director and CEO Dan Monroe reflected, “It seems pretty clear to us that most people experience art on the basis of unconscious filters, operators, values, past experiences and knowledge… [but] most do not actually stop and look carefully and consciously think about what they’re seeing.”

The new initiative will address the core nature of perception and learning, closing the gap between what visitors experience in a museum and what the corresponding neurological response is, or could be.

PEM’s engagement with neuroscience extends back several years, beginning with a neuroscience lecture for museum staff led by Wellesley College professor Bevil Conway. Since then, the museum has begun to incorporate brain science principles into exhibition design and interpretation.

Last year multi-sensory elements were integrated into the Asia in Amsterdam exhibition – fragrant spices and sounds of a 17th-century city life wafted in the foyer, tactile stations were created elsewhere to explore the difference between earthenware and porcelain – and in the Rodin: Transforming Sculpture galleries professional dancers encouraged visitor engagement.