Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to analyze brain region activity when viewing landscapes

By I-Chun Tang, Yu-Ping Tsai, Ying-Ju Lin, Jyh-Horng Chen, Chao-Hsien Hsieh, S. Hung, William C. Sullivan, Hsing-Fen Tang, Chun-Yen Chang. 2017

121 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Over the years, the restorative benefits of the natural environment have been taken seriously. These restorative effects continue to be verified in research from both the psychological and physiological perspectives. The latest functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology provides an opportunity to further explore the psychophysiological aspects of these benefits from the natural environment. This study aimed to compare the restorative value of four types of landscape environments (urban, mountain, forest, and water) through questionnaires and by investigating the relationship between the different environments and brain region activity by means of fMRI. Based on a one-way analysis of variance, a significant difference was found between the restorative value of the urban and natural environments—the most value being in the water and mountain environments and least in the urban environment. In support of this psychological result, the brain was found to respond similarly, showing increased activity in the visual and attentional focus areas when an urban environment is viewed as opposed to a natural environment. These findings reveal a new approach to test the restorative value of an environment and support the restorative effect of the natural environment.

Subfields: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis, Sensory Systems, Speech and Hearing

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/735421cd7dc719cb0ce4cd83bde5adfd68e4c5e0

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

1. N. Bauer
2. Fatemeh Saeidi-Rizi
3. Olivia McAnirlin
4. Yue Pei
5. H. Yoon
6. M. Browning
7. Hao-ann Jane

In Sensory Systems

1. Fatemeh Saeidi-Rizi
2. Olivia McAnirlin
3. Yue Pei
4. H. Yoon
5. M. Browning

In Speech and Hearing

1. N. Bauer
2. Fatemeh Saeidi-Rizi
3. Olivia McAnirlin
4. Yue Pei
5. H. Yoon
6. M. Browning

Citations in the corpus

• The Role of Methodological Choices in the Effects of Experimental Exposure to Simulated Natural Landscapes on Human Health and Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review (2020, result): “…units provide researchers with streamlined ways of testing the psychophysiological effects of simulated landscapes in a cost-effective manner and without participant or researcher burden when compared with previous technologies (Ren & Kang, 2015; Sun et al., 2018; Tang et al., 2017).”
• Trees, grass, or concrete? The effects of different types of environments on stress reduction (2020, result): “Ultimately, our results are in line with the model of affective response to nature proposed by Ulrich (1983) and later supported by additional empirical results (Hartig, Evans, Jamner, Davis, & Gärling, 2003; Ulrich et al.”