Effects of COVID-19-related stay-at-home order on neuropsychophysiological response to urban spaces: Beneficial role of exposure to nature?

Olszewska-Guizzo, Agnieszka; Fogel, Anna; Escoffier, Nicolas; Ho, Roger

doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101590

Cited by 46 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Aging research, on the other hand, shows that with years passing by, the neural volume and activity tends to decrease [ 44 ], which may in turn be linked to a decrease in brain oxy-Hb in certain brain regions. The depressive symptoms occurring post-lockdown seem to be supported by previous behavioral studies [ 1 , 2 ] as well as longitudinal EEG experiments [ 18 ]; people experiencing distress, uncertainty, social isolation and stimuli deprivation may have developed depressive symptoms over the lockdown period. It is also plausible that some slower neural reactivity to visual stimuli (typical in older age participants) may have occurred as a result of a prolonged change of everyday routine and limited sensory stimulations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…Nevertheless, the brain hemodynamic patterns underlying exposure to urban and natural scenes in the context of a COVID-19-related lockdown remains unknown. Our parallel electroencephalography (EEG) study with a similar design confirmed the general decline in mood and approach-related motivation towards urban scenes after the lockdown when compared to before [ 18 ]. However, visual attention patterns were not tested in our EEG study.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 53%

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Hemodynamic Response to Three Types of Urban Spaces before and after Lockdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Olszewska-Guizzo¹,

Mukoyama

Naganawa

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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(1) Background: Prolonged lockdowns with stay-at-home orders have been introduced in many countries since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have caused a drastic change in the everyday lives of people living in urbanized areas, and are considered to contribute to a modified perception of the public space. As research related to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on mental health and well-being emerges, the associated longitudinal changes of brain hemodynamics in healthy adults remain largely unknown. (2) Methods: this study examined the hemodynamic activation patterns of the prefrontal and occipital cortices of 12 participants (5 male, Mage = 47.80, SDage = 17.79, range 25 to 74, and 7 female, Mage = 39.00, SDage = 18.18, range 21 to 65) passively viewing videos from three urban sites in Singapore (Urban Park, Neighborhood Landscape and City Center) at two different time points—T1, before the COVID-19 pandemic and T2, soon after the lockdown was over. (3) Results: We observed a significant and marginally significant decrease in average oxyhemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) over time for each of the visual conditions. For both green spaces (Urban Park and Neighborhood Landscape), the decrease was in the visual cortex, while for the City Center with no green elements, the marginal decrease was observed in the visual cortex and the frontal eye fields. (4) Conclusions: The results suggest that the COVID-19-related lockdown experienced by urban inhabitants may have contributed to decreased brain hemodynamics, which are further related to a heightened risk of mental health disorders, such as depression or a decline in cognitive functions. Moreover, the busy City Center scenes induced a hemodynamic pattern associated with stress and anxiety, while urban green spaces did not cause such an effect. Urban green scenes can be an important factor to offset the negative neuropsychological impact of busy urban environments post-pandemic.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Hemodynamic Response to Three Types of Urban Spaces before and after Lockdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Olszewska-Guizzo¹,

Mukoyama

Naganawa

et al. 2021

IJERPH

Self Cite

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“…The presence of a greater amount of plants, green views from windows and availability of access to private natural spaces were strongly associated with improved psychological health outcomes-anxiety, moodiness and sleep disturbance-in Italian dwellers during the COVID-19 home confinement [155]. In Singapore, healthy adults with lower nature exposure during the stay-at-home order reported an increase in the severity of depressive symptoms post-COVID-19-related lockdown [156].…”

Section: Buffering Effect Of Housing Conditions On Resident's Mental Health During Covid-19 Lockdownmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Interplay between Housing Environmental Attributes and Design Exposures and Psychoneuroimmunology Profile—An Exploratory Review and Analysis Paper in the Cancer Survivors’ Mental Health Morbidity Context

Hernandez-Garcia

Chrysikou

Kalea

2021

IJERPH

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Adult cancer survivors have an increased prevalence of mental health comorbidities and other adverse late-effects interdependent with mental illness outcomes compared with the general population. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) heralds an era of renewed call for actions to identify sustainable modalities to facilitate the constructs of cancer survivorship care and health care delivery through physiological supportive domestic spaces. Building on the concept of therapeutic architecture, psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) indicators—with the central role in low-grade systemic inflammation—are associated with major psychiatric disorders and late effects of post-cancer treatment. Immune disturbances might mediate the effects of environmental determinants on behaviour and mental disorders. Whilst attention is paid to the non-objective measurements for examining the home environmental domains and mental health outcomes, little is gathered about the multidimensional effects on physiological responses. This exploratory review presents a first analysis of how addressing the PNI outcomes serves as a catalyst for therapeutic housing research. We argue the crucial component of housing in supporting the sustainable primary care and public health-based cancer survivorship care model, particularly in the psychopathology context. Ultimately, we illustrate a series of interventions aiming at how housing environmental attributes can trigger PNI profile changes and discuss the potential implications in the non-pharmacological treatment of cancer survivors and patients with mental morbidities.

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“…These pieces of evidence showed that individuals in lockdowns craved alcohol intake as a maladaptive coping strategy, presumably as a way to calm down [48]. In the same vein, an increase in alcohol intake by some individuals during the pandemic might be induced by the need to cope with the deterioration of mental health observed in several studies [49,50].…”

Section: Covid-19 and Alcohol Intakementioning

confidence: 96%

Go Greener, Less Risk: Access to Nature Is Associated with Lower Risk Taking in Different Domains during the COVID-19 Lockdown

et al. 2021

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Specific risk attitude and risky behavior had an important boost during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this contribution, we hypothesize that access to nature during home confinement will decrease both the tendency to passive risk taking and alcohol intake. To do so, we interviewed through an online survey two samples of Italian residents during the strict lockdown due to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, in Study 1, participants were 1519 Italian residents coming from different Italian regions, whilst in Study 2, participants were 182 students at a university of southern Italy who were monitored for one week. In Study 1, the hierarchical regression analysis attested that access to nature during the lockdown mitigated the tendency to passive risk taking, over and beyond the effect of socio-demographic variables and the psychological construct of impulsiveness, an important personality correlate of risk taking. In Study 2, the hierarchical regression showed that access to green was associated with fewer glasses of alcohol drunk in a week of lockdown. This effect held over and above the effect of socio-demographic variables and the drinking behavior before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In both studies, findings confirmed the beneficial effect of access to nature in specific risk-taking domains. Theoretical future directions, as well as practical implications for the management of the COVID-19 emergency by policymakers, are discussed.

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Effects of COVID-19-related stay-at-home order on neuropsychophysiological response to urban spaces: Beneficial role of exposure to nature?

Cited by 46 publications

References 48 publications

Hemodynamic Response to Three Types of Urban Spaces before and after Lockdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hemodynamic Response to Three Types of Urban Spaces before and after Lockdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Interplay between Housing Environmental Attributes and Design Exposures and Psychoneuroimmunology Profile—An Exploratory Review and Analysis Paper in the Cancer Survivors’ Mental Health Morbidity Context

Go Greener, Less Risk: Access to Nature Is Associated with Lower Risk Taking in Different Domains during the COVID-19 Lockdown

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