FLOWERS

Flowers have a strong visual component. Vision is a multimodal process that entails the activation, not only of the visual areas of the brain, but also of sensory-motor, viscera-motor, and affective cerebral circuits. Thus, flowers help us to actively organize perceptual experience. This visual stimulation, together with the ease of recognition and the familiarity engendered by symmetry in flower shapes, may stimulate the brain and be associated with improved mood due to a feeling of being able to make sense of the world. This combined element of familiarity and surprise is a basic component of aesthetic experience that is able to move us emotionally, activating both sadness and happiness.