Overview
- The University of Houston team reviewed 33 studies with 2,101 people who experienced real, virtual, or imagined nature, with most studies based in Asia and focused on healthy volunteers.
- Pooled results showed a small drop in negative emotions and a larger change in brain measures, with Hedges' g of 0.30 for psychological outcomes and 0.43 for neurophysiological outcomes.
- EEG was the main brain-imaging tool, and experiments ranged from looking at nature images to VR scenes to outdoor walks.
- The authors found that 88% of studies had weak designs, and they urge shared protocols, richer brain metrics like functional connectivity, and standardized real-world data suitable for AI analysis.
- The BRAIN Center plans a Houston field study in neighborhood green corridors and campus pollinator gardens to test neural mechanisms and guide Nature Rx policies that aim to build brain capital, the cognitive and emotional resources a society relies on.