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Mirage NewsScience17 Oct 2026 2:41 am AEDTDate Time
Drexel University
Some of nature’s healthful benefits might be possible through well-curated ornamental spaces, suggests a brain activity study recently published in the October issue of Building and Environment from researchers at Drexel’s Nick Howley College of Engineering and Computing . The findings, which reveal new insights into how humans experience nature, may lead to scalable, evidence-based ways to design spaces to produce restorative benefits, which could be especially helpful for those who do not have convenient access to plants outdoors.
In the study, 32 adults experienced five immersive, 360-degree virtual reality experiences developed in partnership with Longwood Gardens and inspired by real settings available at the 1,100-acre horticultural destination in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
Nick Jushchyshyn , an associate professor and program director in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design , and his team in the College’s Digital Media program created the VR environments: a non-horticultural control (an indoor office-like room with no natural elements), ornamental gardens (modeled after Longwood’s highly curated Italian Water Garden and Main Conservatory) and natural landscapes (Inspired by Longwood’s Forest Walk and Meadow Garden, which feature relatively minimal human management).
Participants spent six minutes exploring the sights and sounds of each site. While they navigated the virtual environments, their brain and body responses were recorded through and array of sensors.
A functional near-infrared spectroscopy, or fNIRS, sensor worn on the forehead that tracked changes in blood oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex. A wristband sensor recorded heart rate, heart rate variability and electrodermal activity — the small changes in skin conductance that reflect nervous system arousal. Together, the data collected by the sensors gave insight into how hard the brain is working in each setting, as well as the level of alertness or engagement a person may be experiencing.
Participants were also surveyed after each VR experience, to assess their appreciation of the beauty within the activity and whether they felt restorative effects.
“Our study shows that these curated green spaces evoke distinct physiological responses and not a simple positive or negative one,” said senior author Hasan Ayaz, PhD , a professor in the Howley College of Engineering and Computing’s School of Biomedical Engineering and Science . “Researchers and developers need to consider many aspects of brain responses to really understand how humans process exposures to natural elements.”
Most notably, the authors highlighted the responses to the ornamental gardens. The fNIRS sensor data showed that the gardens reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex to nearly the same degree as the natural landscapes, a brain activity pattern associated with restoration.
At the same time, the wristband sensor recorded higher electrodermal activity (small changes in skin sweat) among participants viewing the gardens by comparison to the office setting, indicating heightened physiological arousal. That combination of a “quieter” brain and a more alert body occurred even though participants rated the gardens as restorative.
“The ornamental condition was not simply a mid-point between the other two experiences, but a style worth understanding in its own right, particularly for developers, planners and researchers,” said Ayaz. “We found that these ornamental, curated spaces can quiet the mind almost on par with relatively untouched nature, while also providing the benefit of elevated bodily activation, a condition we refer to as an ‘aroused fascination.'”
The team hopes the findings can be used to develop real-world and virtual ornamental spaces that incorporate elements of nature and built environments to be restorative for the brain and body while also being engaging.
“We expected the gardens to fall somewhere between the plain indoor room and the wild landscapes, but that isn’t what the body showed,” said lead author Kevin L. Ramirez-Chavez, a doctoral researcher in Ayaz’s lab . “The ornamental gardens calmed the brain much like the natural scenes did, yet at the same time they put the body on higher alert. That combination showed us that we were looking at a distinct kind of environment, not just a midpoint on a scale from built to natural. By mapping these distinct responses, this work lays the groundwork for eventually designing targeted VR breaks that could help relieve cognitive fatigue among people stuck in windowless spaces.”
As the team expected, the plain office environment was associated with higher activation in the medial prefrontal cortex, a region linked to internally focused, self-referential thinking. The authors suggest this may reflect the brain turning inward when there is little in the surroundings to engage with. The natural setting was rated as the most restorative, and sensors showed it was less taxing on the brain and nervous system than the office setting.
The health benefits from exposure to nature are well-documented, yet humans are not spending much time there , including less than 10% of their time outdoors , according to the National Human Activity Pattern Survey and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This “nature deficit ,” has been linked to affective disorders, chronic stress and attentional fatigue . Studies have cited many reasons for humans’ lack of activity in nature, including resources and climate change, but one of the most often cited is increasing use of technology .
The Drexel study did not capture every element of nature, such as smell, airflow and temperature, which may limit how broadly the findings apply. The authors say future studies that incorporate tasks to measure brain performance and attention, and different environmental properties, such as layout and complexity, would help pinpoint what drives brain and nervous system responses.
The study brought together experts from across Drexel, including the School of Biomedical Engineering and Science , LeBow College of Business , and Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design .
In addition to Ayaz, Jushchyshyn and Ramirez-Chavez, Adrian Curtin, Felix Maldonado Osorio, and Rajneesh Suri, all from Drexel University, also contributed. Ayaz has a relationship with fNIR Devices, LLC that includes equity.
Read the full paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132326008085
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