"when we are shown nature scenes, the parts of our brain associated with empathy and love lite up, and when we’re shown urban scenes the fear and anxiety parts are triggered"
I can see that a country bumkin is afraid of the big city because they don’t understand where it is “safe”, or how to ride the subway. But wouldn’t the opposite be true for city dwellers. Wouldn’t they be afraid of snakes or cows or something?
Is the research about seeing photographs or about experiencing nature. By experiencing I mean walking, gardening, swimming, skiing , camping etc.
Pru, keep up the great work. I really look forward to your newsletter every week. Thank you for writing it.
I'm so very glad you enjoy it Ann. Thanks for letting me know. Without everyone's comments, I wouldn't continue as I wouldn't know if anyone was deriving any benefit!
I looked into your question - and I think the study that is being referenced is this one: "Human brain activation in response to visual stimulation with rural and urban scenery pictures: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study"
I couldn't download the whole article without a subscription, but the abstract answers your question - the study was done with photographs. Presumably the authors, or the reviewers, ensured that the study included both rural and urban dwellers.
I get your point that a photograph doesn't carry the same threats as a real world urban or wild setting. But that perhaps addresses your question. The photographic responses removed the unfamiliarity fears, suggesting that the nature good, city stressful response is ubiquitous if there is no fear. I'd conjecture that a short time in either environment would reduce those fears quite quickly and we'd be left with the nature good / city stressful response.
One famous study shows that recovery after surgery is quicker and patients ask for less pain medication and complain less, if they have a view of a tree outside their window as opposed to the view of a brick wall.
And there are other studies which demonstrate the positive benefits of being in the woods for inner city kids, people with drug addictions, grieving people and so forth ... The literature is quite deep.
Bruce just read about a Scandinavian custom of going outside, daily, for air and light and sun for at least 1 hr. Even teleconferencing is done outside. We have taken to renaming our daily walks as our Scandinavian Stroll...
Leave it to the Scandinavians to encapsulate such wisdom into a daily custom. It reminds me of hygge - the Scandinavian concept of "a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow" according to Wikipedia. Hygge, as you may well know, is an important part of recent Danish cultural identity and it's also a popular concept in the UK. Perhaps your Scandinavian Stroll is one of your hygges?
"when we are shown nature scenes, the parts of our brain associated with empathy and love lite up, and when we’re shown urban scenes the fear and anxiety parts are triggered"
I can see that a country bumkin is afraid of the big city because they don’t understand where it is “safe”, or how to ride the subway. But wouldn’t the opposite be true for city dwellers. Wouldn’t they be afraid of snakes or cows or something?
Is the research about seeing photographs or about experiencing nature. By experiencing I mean walking, gardening, swimming, skiing , camping etc.
Pru, keep up the great work. I really look forward to your newsletter every week. Thank you for writing it.
I'm so very glad you enjoy it Ann. Thanks for letting me know. Without everyone's comments, I wouldn't continue as I wouldn't know if anyone was deriving any benefit!
I looked into your question - and I think the study that is being referenced is this one: "Human brain activation in response to visual stimulation with rural and urban scenery pictures: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969710001695
I couldn't download the whole article without a subscription, but the abstract answers your question - the study was done with photographs. Presumably the authors, or the reviewers, ensured that the study included both rural and urban dwellers.
I get your point that a photograph doesn't carry the same threats as a real world urban or wild setting. But that perhaps addresses your question. The photographic responses removed the unfamiliarity fears, suggesting that the nature good, city stressful response is ubiquitous if there is no fear. I'd conjecture that a short time in either environment would reduce those fears quite quickly and we'd be left with the nature good / city stressful response.
One famous study shows that recovery after surgery is quicker and patients ask for less pain medication and complain less, if they have a view of a tree outside their window as opposed to the view of a brick wall.
And there are other studies which demonstrate the positive benefits of being in the woods for inner city kids, people with drug addictions, grieving people and so forth ... The literature is quite deep.
Hope that helps
Bruce just read about a Scandinavian custom of going outside, daily, for air and light and sun for at least 1 hr. Even teleconferencing is done outside. We have taken to renaming our daily walks as our Scandinavian Stroll...
Leave it to the Scandinavians to encapsulate such wisdom into a daily custom. It reminds me of hygge - the Scandinavian concept of "a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow" according to Wikipedia. Hygge, as you may well know, is an important part of recent Danish cultural identity and it's also a popular concept in the UK. Perhaps your Scandinavian Stroll is one of your hygges?