The team coordinated by Professor Fabio Babiloni - head of the Laboratory of Industrial Neuroscience - used an innovative approach to detect the emotions and interest aroused by viewing Michelangelo's famous sculpture. The system, called Mindtooth, was developed by Sapienza's start-up BrainSigns as part of the European project of the same name and aims to use neuroscience 'outside the laboratory' in operational contexts.

As has already been done in the past for the analysis of brain activity when reading passages from Dante's Divine Comedy, researchers can use the easily wearable device to measure how our brain and body react when confronted with various stimuli and conditions, such as works of art.

The results of this new analysis showed that in order to maximise emotion and cerebral interest, it is not enough to be in front of Moses, but it is necessary to look at him from a clearly defined point: the one from where his intense gaze can be seen, i.e. beside the statue.

In contrast, at the frontal observation point, where the gaze of Moses does not directly cross that of the visitors, the measured emotion is significantly lower, although the cerebral interest is also high when observing the statue more as a whole, from a more distant frontal position.

Fabio Babiloni, Giulia Cartocci and Gianluca Di Flumeri talked about the study during the Rai 3 TV programme Generazione Bellezza on April 14, 2023.