I find you more attractive … after (prefrontal cortex) stimulation Chiara Ferrari a,b , Carlotta Lega c , Marco Tamietto d,e , Marcos Nadal f , Zaira Cattaneo b,c,n a Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy b Brain Connectivity Center, C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy c Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy d Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy e Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, and CoRPS, Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands f Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria article info Article history: Received 16 January 2015 Received in revised form 20 April 2015 Accepted 22 April 2015 Available online 23 April 2015 Keywords: Face processing tDCS Prefrontal cortex Attractiveness abstract Facial attractiveness seems to be perceived immediately. Neuroimaging evidence suggests that the ap- praisal of facial attractiveness is mediated by a network of cortical and subcortical regions, mainly en- compassing the reward circuit, but also including prefrontal cortices. The prefrontal cortex is involved in high-level processes, so how does its activity relate to beauty appreciation? To shed light on this, we asked male and female participants to evaluate the attractiveness of faces of the same and other sex prior and after transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). We found that increasing excitability via anodal tDCS in the right but not in the left DLPFC increased perceived attractiveness of the faces, irrespective of the sex of the faces or the sex of the viewers. Identical stimulation over the same site did not affect estimation of other facial characteristics, such as age, thereby suggesting that the effects of anodal tDCS over the right DLPFC might be selective for facial attractiveness, and might not generalize to decisions concerning other facial attributes. Overall, our data suggest that the right DLPFC plays a causal role in explicit judgment of facial attractiveness. The me- chanisms mediating such effect are discussed. & 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Consistent evidence shows that there is a strong agreement across individuals belonging to different cultures and sexes (even from the very early development) about whether a face is attrac- tive or not (e.g., Langlois et al., 2000). Cognitive and evolutionary psychologists have long debated about what makes a face attrac- tive. Among the most common features, research has focused on facial averageness, symmetry, sexual dimorphism, and skin quality as possible relevant factors (for a review, see Rhodes, 2006). From an evolutionary perspective, these attributes may act as critical biological signals in mate selection, enhancing reproductive suc- cess (e.g., Perrett et al., 1994, 1998). Studies investigating the neural correlates of facial attractive- ness judgments converge in pointing to a network of cortical and subcortical areas including the orbitofrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens, the ventral striatum, the amygdala, but also the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex bilaterally (e.g., Chatterjee et al., 2009; Cloutier et al., 2008; Kranz and Ishai, 2006; Martín-Loeches et al., 2014; O’Doherty et al., 2003; Vartanian et al., 2013; Winston et al., 2007; for meta-analyses, see Bzdok et al., 2011, and Mende- Siedlecki et al., 2013). The neural circuitry underlying appreciation of facial attractiveness shows a considerable (but not complete) overlap with brain regions involved in reward (such as the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and orbitofrontal cortex). This overlap likely reflects the emotional responses elicited by attractive faces (cf. Aharon et al., 2001; Senior, 2003). Nonetheless, the evaluation of facial attractiveness may rely on two different processes en- gaged simultaneously. One process is related to activity through- out the reward circuit, especially in response to attractive faces of the preferred sex. In particular, attractive faces are rewarding in that they induce a conscious (or unconscious) experience of pleasure (see Berridge et al., 2009) possibly associated to mate choice. The other process is based on an aesthetic evaluation, not directly governed by appraisals of reward value (Aharon et al., 2001; Senior, 2003; see also Leder et al., 2004, for a more general discussion on other sources of aesthetic pleasure). Accordingly, certain areas of the reward circuit have been found to show Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/neuropsychologia Neuropsychologia http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.04.024 0028-3932/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author at: University of Milano Bicocca, Department of Psy- chology, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano, Italy. E-mail address: zaira.cattaneo@unimib.it (Z. Cattaneo). Neuropsychologia 72 (2015) 87–93