Functional Neuroanatomy Associated with Natural and Urban Scenic Views in the Human Brain: 3.0T Functional MR Imaging

Abstract

ObjectiveBy using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique we assessed brain activation patterns while subjects were viewing the living environments representing natural and urban scenery.Materials and MethodsA total of 28 healthy right-handed subjects underwent an fMRI on a 3.0 Tesla MRI scanner. The stimulation paradigm consisted of three times the rest condition and two times the activation condition, each of which lasted for 30 and 120 seconds, respectively. During the activation period, each subject viewed natural and urban scenery, respectively.ResultsThe predominant brain activation areas observed following exposure to natural scenic views in contrast with urban views included the superior and middle frontal gyri, superior parietal gyrus, precuneus, basal ganglia, superior occipital gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and insula. On the other hand, the predominant brain activation areas following exposure to urban scenic views in contrast with natural scenes included the middle and inferior occipital gyri, parahippocampal gyrus, hippocampus, amygdala, anterior temporal pole, and inferior frontal gyrus.ConclusionOur findings support the idea that the differential functional neuroanatomies for each scenic view are presumably related with subjects' emotional responses to the natural and urban environment, and thus the differential functional neuroanatomy can be utilized as a neural index for the evaluation of friendliness in ecological housing.

The Aging Urban Brain: Analyzing Outdoor Physical Activity Using the Emotiv Affectiv Suite in Older People

“…Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has shown distinct networks of activation associated with viewing urban and rural scenes [8,12] and demonstrated that these networks could be mediated by emotional preference [13]. In addition, reductions in resting state activation were found in the subgenual prefrontal cortex after a 90-min walk in nature as compared with a 90-min walk in an urban environment [3].…”

“…In addition, reductions in resting state activation were found in the subgenual prefrontal cortex after a 90-min walk in nature as compared with a 90-min walk in an urban environment [3]. Electroencephalography (EEG) has shown that observing static rural images can induce increases in alpha (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13) Hz) neural activity [14,15] associated with relaxation [16].…”

Emotional effect on cognitive control in implicit memory tasks in patients with schizophrenia

“…Furthermore, the primary visual cortex and the association cortices consisting of the occipital cortex showed higher activities in the implicit retrieval of negative images versus neural images in the patients with schizophrenia. The visual cortex played an important role in visual information perception and the visual association cortex showed greater enhancement of signal intensities during processing of emotional pictures [23]. This result may be because of the increased attention and concentration for implicit retrieval of unpleasant words in the patients with schizophrenia than healthy controls.…”

Not Just Scenery: Viewing Nature Pictures Improves Executive Attention in Older Adults

“…However, one functional neuroimaging study found differences in activation in young adults while viewing nature versus urban pictures, which was interpreted as differential emotional responsiveness to the two picture types (Kim, et al, 2010). Another recent study found that, compared to more rural areas, current city living and urban upbringing are each related to distinct patterns of brain activity during social stress processing (Lederbogen, et al, 2011), suggesting that long-term exposure to natural versus urban environments may affect brain function differently, though the correlational nature of this study does not establish the direction of cause.…”