Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 17, 2025
05:33
Measuring Biophysical and Psychological Stress Levels Following Visitation to Three Locations with Differing Levels of Nature
Published on: June 19, 2019
8.8K
Natural Categorization: Electrophysiological Responses to Viewing Natural Versus Built Environments
Salif Mahamane1, Nick Wan2, Alexis Porter3
1Department of Behavioral & Social Sciences, Western Colorado University, Gunnison, CO, United States.
Frontiers in Psychology
|June 27, 2020
Summary
Natural environments boost positive emotions and attention more than built ones. Brain activity returns to baseline faster after viewing nature, suggesting distinct neural processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Environmental Psychology
Background:
- Natural environments are linked to increased positive emotions and attention.
- Neural mechanisms differentiating natural and built environments are under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural differences in human perception of natural versus built environments.
- To examine electrophysiological responses to environmental stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a temporally sensitive electrophysiological approach.
- Employed an event-related, implicit passive viewing task.
- Measured late positive potential (LPP) in response to built and natural scenes.
Main Results:
- Exposure to built environments elicited a greater late positive potential (LPP) compared to natural environments.
- Viewing natural environments resulted in a faster return of neural activation to baseline levels.
- Demonstrated distinct cortical processing for natural versus built environments.
Conclusions:
- Natural and built environments are perceived differently at a neural level.
- Findings support behavioral and theoretical evidence from environmental psychology.
- Suggests unique neural processing benefits associated with natural environments.
