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Can Exposure to Certain Urban Green Spaces Trigger Frontal Alpha Asymmetry in the Brain?—Preliminary Findings from a Passive Task EEG Study

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  • Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

    (Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech) MD6, 14 Medical Drive, #14-01, Singapore 117599, Singapore
    NeuroLandscape Foundation, Suwalska 8/78, 03-252 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Angelia Sia

    (National Parks Board, Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology, 1E Cluny Road Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore 259601, Singapore)

  • Anna Fogel

    (Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, 12 Science Drive 2, Tahir Foundation Building #12, Singapore 117549, Singapore)

  • Roger Ho

    (Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech) MD6, 14 Medical Drive, #14-01, Singapore 117599, Singapore
    Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the National University of Singapore, NUHS Tower Block, Level 9 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore)

Abstract

A growing body of evidence from observational and experimental studies shows the associations between exposure to urban green spaces (UGSs) and mental health outcomes. Little is known about which specific features of UGS that might be the most beneficial. In addition, there is potential in utilizing objective physiological markers of mental health, such as assessing brain activity, but the subject requires further investigation. This paper presents the preliminary findings from an on-going within-subject experiment where adult participants ( n = 22; 13 females) were passively exposed to six landscape scenes within two UGSs (a park and a neighborhood green space) and three scenes of a busy urban downtown (control site). The landscape scenes were pre-selected based on their contemplative landscape score (CLS) to represent different levels of aggregation of contemplative features within each view. Participants went to each of the sites in a random order to passively view the scenes, while their electroencephalography (EEG) signal was being recorded concurrently. Frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) values, commonly associated with the approach-related motivation and positive emotions, were extracted. The preliminary results show trends for the main effect of site on FAA, suggestive of stronger FAA in park compared to the control site, akin to more positive mood. There was also a trend for the interaction between the site and scene, which suggests that even within the individual sites, there is variability depending on the specific scene. Adjusting for environmental covariate strengthened these effects, these interim findings are promising in supporting the study hypothesis and suggest that exposure to urban green spaces may be linked to mental health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo & Angelia Sia & Anna Fogel & Roger Ho, 2020. "Can Exposure to Certain Urban Green Spaces Trigger Frontal Alpha Asymmetry in the Brain?—Preliminary Findings from a Passive Task EEG Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-10, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:2:p:394-:d:306019
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mireia Gascon & Margarita Triguero-Mas & David Martínez & Payam Dadvand & Joan Forns & Antoni Plasència & Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen, 2015. "Mental Health Benefits of Long-Term Exposure to Residential Green and Blue Spaces: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-26, April.
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    Cited by:

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    4. Charalambous, Efrosini, 2023. "Neurourbanism and Neuroarchitecture: How can Cognitive Sciences Inform Design?," OSF Preprints 6f4uc, Center for Open Science.
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    6. Yanyan Zhang & Meng Wang & Junyi Li & Jianxia Chang & Huan Lu, 2022. "Do Greener Urban Streets Provide Better Emotional Experiences? An Experimental Study on Chinese Tourists," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-21, December.
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    8. Xinrui Wang & Libin Ouyang & Jian Lin & Pengfei An & Wanjing Wang & Lin Liu & Longfeng Wu, 2023. "Spatial Patterns of Urban Green-Blue Spaces and Residents’ Well-Being: The Mediating Effect of Neighborhood Social Cohesion," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, July.
    9. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo & Ayako Mukoyama & Sho Naganawa & Ippeita Dan & Syeda Fabeha Husain & Cyrus S. Ho & Roger Ho, 2021. "Hemodynamic Response to Three Types of Urban Spaces before and after Lockdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-12, June.
    10. Kaili Chen & Tianzheng Zhang & Fangyuan Liu & Yingjie Zhang & Yan Song, 2021. "How Does Urban Green Space Impact Residents’ Mental Health: A Literature Review of Mediators," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-27, November.
    11. Takafumi Abe & Kenta Okuyama & Tsuyoshi Hamano & Miwako Takeda & Masayuki Yamasaki & Minoru Isomura & Kunihiko Nakano & Kristina Sundquist & Toru Nabika, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of a Hilly Environment on Depressive Symptoms among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-11, April.
    12. Daniel Masterson & Margarita Triguero-Mas & Sandra Marquez & Wilma Zijlema & David Martinez & Christopher Gidlow & Graham Smith & Gemma Hurst & Marta Cirach & Regina Grazuleviciene & Magdalena Van den, 2022. "Use of the Natural Outdoor Environment in Different Populations in Europe in Relation to Access: Implications for Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, February.
    13. Altaf Engineer & Aletheia Ida & Esther M. Sternberg, 2020. "Healing Spaces: Designing Physical Environments to Optimize Health, Wellbeing, and Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-4, February.
    14. Zhimeng Wang & Yue Li & Jingchen An & Wenyi Dong & Hongqidi Li & Huirui Ma & Junhui Wang & Jianping Wu & Ting Jiang & Guangxin Wang, 2022. "Effects of Restorative Environment and Presence on Anxiety and Depression Based on Interactive Virtual Reality Scenarios," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-27, June.

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