Investigate physiological and psychological responses to environment scenes, elements and components in different...

Research has proved a close relationship between environments and physiological as well as psychological responses. However, existing research based on neuroscience experiments demonstrated a clear dichotomy between natural and built environments in the selection of exposure settings. There is very limited research analyzing and comparing the effects of different urban environments on individual psychological health. In addition, most previous studies focus on effects of the general scenes and the influences of specific elements and components within different scenes are less examined. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of four typical urban scenes, six specific elements and twenty-two components on physiological indicators and psychological responses. The physiological indicators included electroencephalography (EEG) and electrodermal activity (EDA), while the psychological responses were assessed using the profile of mood states (POMS) scale and the perceived restorativeness scale (PRS). The analytical results showed that different urban environments tend to have significantly varied, and even opposite impacts on the residents' psychological well-being. Certain urban environments like historical districts can have even greater positive impact on residents' emotions than natural areas. The perceived restoration of the same elements and components varied according to the urban scenes. These findings can provide guidance for health-oriented spaces planning and designing.