ArticleScientific reports2021
Brain functional connectivity differs when viewing pictures from natural and built environments using fMRI resting state analysis.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of EEG, fMRI, and fNIRS Studies on the Psychological Impact of Nature on Well-Being.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Pooled it
- Cities and neuroscience research: A systematic literature review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of a Nature-Based Intervention on Cognitive Function in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Primate-informed neural network for visual decision-making.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Default mode network connectivity contributes the augment effect stress recovery by natural viewing.Neurobiology of stress · 2025Article
- Nature images are more visually engaging than urban images: evidence from neural oscillations in the brain.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- How does the macroenvironment influence brain and behaviour-a review of current status and future perspectives.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Review
- Current methodologies of greenspace exposure and mental health research-a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- How does the macroenvironment influence brain and behaviour - a review of current status and future perspectives.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Functional brain connectivity during exposure to the scale and color of interior built environments.Human brain mapping · 2023Article
- Impacts of urban green infrastructure on attentional functioning: insights from an fMRI study.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Urbanicity-Perspectives from Neuroscience and Public Health: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Application of Neuroscience Tools in Building Construction - An Interdisciplinary Analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Human beings evolved in "natural" environments. Many intervention studies have shown that exposure to natural environments (compared to built/urban environments) reduces stress and increases cognitive functioning. We set out to test differences in fMRI functional connectivity while showing participants photographs from natural versus built environments (matched in terms of scenicness ratings). No differences in self-reported perceived stress, rumination, valence, arousal or dominance were observed. However, functional connectivity was significantly higher when participants saw natural rather than built environmental photographs in circuits consisting of dorsal attention network (DAN) and ventral attention network (VAN), DAN and default mode network (DMN) and DMN and Somatomotor connections. In addition, we observed lower functional connectivity during the natural environment condition correlated with more years that individuals spent in major cities during upbringing. Future studies, linking changes in cognitive functioning due to nature exposure and alterations in functional connectivity, are warranted.
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Registered trials
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