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.
Keywords: Brain activation, Natural, Urban, Surrounding environment; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).