Effects of Landscapes on the Brain

There is an established consensus between researchers that the contact with natural environments has beneficial influence on mental health and well-being of people exposed to them. The knowledge in this area is based mostly on the correlational analyses, but more research is needed to explore the causal relationships between the human and his environment. More specifically, in order to identify specific restorative mechanisms in response to the specific types and components of the designed landscapes, especially in the highly urbanized context. This study will attempt to find the psychophysiological responses in human brain to landscapes videos (in the lab), and real landscapes with different visual quality, carefully pre-selected and analysed in terms of landscape composition. In the study the rigorous experimental protocol will be administered in order to acquire qualitative and quantitative data both self-reported and measured by neuroscience tools, in order to demonstrate the causal effect of landscape exposure on the brain activity patterns and mood of healthy and depressed individuals.