Cities and neuroscience research: A systematic literature review

Abstract

BackgroundCities are becoming the socio-economic hubs for most of the world’s population. Understanding how our surroundings can mentally affect everyday life has become crucial to integrate environmental sustainability into urban development. The present review aims to explore the empirical studies investigating neural mechanisms underlying cognitive and emotional processes elicited by the exposure to different urban built and natural spaces. It also tries to identify new research questions and to leverage neurourbanism as a framework to achieve healthier and sustainable cities.MethodsBy following the PRISMA framework, we conducted a structured search on PubMed, ProQuest, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Only articles related to how urban environment–built or natural–affects brain activity through objective measurement (with either imaging or electrophysiological techniques) were considered. Further inclusion criteria were studies on human adult populations, peer-reviewed, and in English language.ResultsSixty-two articles met the inclusion criteria. They were qualitatively assessed and analyzed to determine the main findings and emerging concepts. Overall, the results suggest that urban built exposure (when compared to natural spaces) elicit activations in brain regions or networks strongly related to perceptual, attentional, and (spatial) cognitive demands. The city’s-built environment also triggers neural circuits linked to stress and negative affect. Convergence of these findings was observed across neuroscience techniques, and for both laboratory and real-life settings. Additionally, evidence also showed associations between neural social stress processing with urban upbringing or current city living–suggesting a mechanistic link to certain mood and anxiety disorders. Finally, environmental diversity was found to be critical for positive affect and individual well-being.ConclusionContemporary human-environment interactions and planetary challenges imply greater understanding of the neurological underpinnings on how the urban space affects cognition and emotion. This review provides scientific evidence that could be applied for policy making on improved urban mental health. Several studies showed that high-quality green or blue spaces, and bio-diverse urban areas, are important allies for positive neural, cognitive, and emotional processes. Nonetheless, the spatial perception in social contexts (e.g., city overcrowding) deserves further attention by urban planners and scientists. The implications of these observations for some theories in environmental psychology and research are discussed. Future work should take advantage of technological advancements to better characterize behavior, brain physiology, and environmental factors and apply them to the remaining complexity of contemporary cities.

Exposure to nature is associated with decreased functional connectivity within the distress network: A resting state EEG study

“…Thus, considering the above mentioned findings, the current neurophysiological pattern (i.e., decreased delta coherence between the left insula and the left sgACC) might reflect the neural underpinning of the processes related to emotional restorative effects of interacting with nature. Obviously, the other side of the coin could be considered, and both are not mutually exclusive: urban scenarios can induce brain responses associated with negative emotion and stress that may be restored through the exposure to natural environments ( Ancora et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Similar findings have been also reported in studies investigating brain functional dynamics by means of different neuroimaging techniques ( Norwood et al, 2019 ). In the same way, it has been detected that the exposure to urban stimuli is related with the activation of brain areas and/or large-scale brain networks linked to stress and negative affect ( Ancora et al, 2022 ).…”

Greenery hypothesis: An evolutionary explanation for why presence/absence of green affects humans

“…While numerous lines of evidence suggest improved psychological outcomes (improved psychological moods and cognitive function, which refer to mental processes involved in the acquisition, processing and utilisation of knowledge) due to contact with nature, we currently have quite limited understanding as to the ultimate drivers leading these responses. Many studies have recently investigated the proximate causes of such positive psychological responses of humans to nature (Ancora et al., 2022; Berman et al., 2021; Bratman et al., 2015), but their evolutionary origins or ultimate causations have not been intensively studied. In this paper, we discuss why human psychological health responds positively to contact with nature from an evolutionary psychology perspective.…”

Mobile EEG for Neurourbanism Research - What Could Possibly Go Wrong? A Critical Review with Guidelines

“…To enhance ecological validity and address the limitations associated with stationary laboratory protocols, researchers have increasingly explored human brain activity in relation to the built or natural environment in actively behaving participants in the laboratory or in real-world settings. Over the past decade, there has been a notable rise in publications within the field of Neurourbanism (Ancora et al, 2022), accompanied by a surge in real-world mobile EEG investigations in general (Niso et al, 2023). The emergence of low-cost, compact, and portable EEG systems seemingly capable of recording neural activity during active movement inside or outside traditional laboratories has opened new avenues for studying human neural responses to the built or natural environment, offering the potential to overcome the ecological validity constraints associated with conventional laboratory research.…”