Functional Neuroanatomy Associated with Natural and Urban Scenic Views in the Human Brain: 3.0T Functional MR Imaging

Objective: By using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique we assessed brain activation patterns while subjects were viewing the living environments representing natural and urban scenery. Materials and Methods:A total of 28 healthy right-handed subjects underwent an fMRI on a 3.0 Tesla MRI scanner.The stimulation paradigm consisted of three times the rest condition and two times the activation condition, each of which lasted for 30 and 120 seconds, respectively.During the activation period, each subject viewed natural and urban scenery, respectively. Results:The predominant brain activation areas observed following exposure to natural scenic views in contrast with urban views included the superior and middle frontal gyri, superior parietal gyrus, precuneus, basal ganglia, superior occipital gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and insula.On the other hand, the predominant brain activation areas following exposure to urban scenic views in contrast with natural scenes included the middle and inferior occipital gyri, parahippocampal gyrus, hippocampus, amygdala, anterior temporal pole, and inferior frontal gyrus. Conclusion:Our findings support the idea that the differential functional neuroanatomies for each scenic view are presumably related with subjects' emotional responses to the natural and urban environment, and thus the differential functional neuroanatomy can be utilized as a neural index for the evaluation of friendliness in ecological housing.uman beings have an instinct to maintain a good quality of life in terms of food, clothing, and living environment.Recently, people are more than ever interested in constructing ecological architecture, natural parks, and green fields to get cheerful and eco-friendly surroundings in urban centers (1, 2).Since the eco-friendly factors contribute much to improve our quality of life, people prefer the comfortable living environments free of physiological fatigue (2, 3).Kaplan and Kaplan (3) asserted that the beauty of nature enhances the interest and concentration, and also reduces the fatigue and stress in our daily life.Researches on various fields are going on exploring the impacts of the natural and urban environments through various psychological and physiological methodologies in combination with statistical verifications (4-8).These findings suggested that natural environments not only lead to psychological stability such as a calm mood, but also to help in reducing stress.When people look at the natural scenic views, physiological indices such as heart rate, blood pressure, and so on, tend to normalize (4-6).Therefore, living in a nature-friendly environment acts as naturopathy and is a primer for crime prevention and improvements in self-control (7, 8).