Exposure to green and historic urban environments and mental well-being: results from EEG and psychometric outcome measures
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Previous studies have identified the benefits of exposure to green or historic environments using qualitative methods and psychometric measures, but studies using a combination of measures are lacking. This study builds on current literature by focusing specifically on green and historic urban environments and using both psychological and physiological measures to investigate the impact of virtual exposure on well-being. Results from the psychological measures showed that the presence of historic elements was associated with a significantly stronger recuperation of hedonic tone (p = 0.01) and reduction in stress (p = 0.04). However, the presence of greenness had no significant effect on hedonic tone or stress. In contrast, physiological measures (EEG) showed significantly lower levels of alpha activity (p < 0.001) in occipital regions of the brain when participants viewed green environments, reflecting increased engagement and visual attention. In conclusion, this study has added to the literature by showing the impact that historic environments can have on well-being, as well as highlighting a lack of concordance between psychological and physiological measures. This supports the use of a combination of subjective and direct objective measures in future research in this field.
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Restorative characteristics may exist in historical environments.
“Finally, a smaller number of studies have been conducted to investigate the restorative effects of natural as opposed to historical environments in laboratory settings, with participants viewing videos or images, suggesting that restorative characteristics may exist in historical environments (e.g., Reece et al., 2022).”
From Perceived restorativeness and environment quality in relation to well-being, residential satisfaction, and sense of community: an analysis in Northeast Italy (2025) · cites this paper as Reece et al., 2022
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“…of studies have been conducted to investigate the restorative effects of natural as opposed to historical environments in laboratory settings, with participants viewing videos or images, suggesting that restorative characteristics may exist in historical environments (e.g., Reece et al., 2022).”
- Authors
- Reece, R., Bornioli, A., Bray, I., & Alford, C.
- Affiliations
- University of the West of England (GB)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Reece, Rebecca
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-10-11
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 20
- Pages
- 13052
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9603209
- OpenAlex
- W4304587330
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 2.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UWE Research Repository (UWE Bristol) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- the Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences funded at The University of the West of England (ES-P000630-1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Urban Green Space and Health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban Development and Cultural Heritage
- Keywords
- green spaces, historic urban environment, psychological well-being, hedonic tone, stress, alpha activity, EEG, visual attention
- MeSH terms
- Electroencephalography, Humans, Mental Health, Psychometrics, Stress, Psychological, Outcome Assessment, Health Care
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