Nature as an Aesthetic Stimuli to Promote Positive Emotions

 In an era where social media is so centralized in our everyday lives, we can be met with a lot of information that can be discomforting to many. This information most of the time tends to break down the character of the recipient of that information and can lead to that individual to view themselves negatively. This kind of event can lead many to develop mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Because of all of this, it is imperative to investigate mechanisms to promote positive emotions in ourselves.  

In their article titled, “The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing” Silton et al. discuss part of The Human Affectome Project in addressing how the practice of having positive emotions impacts the neurophysiology of the brain; how the relationship between neurotransmitters, hormones, brain networks, and cognitive functions promote well-being. The most common neurotransmitter involved in the processing of positive emotions, dopamine, projects to multiple structures in the brain such as the striatum and amygdala. One of the major findings with the role of the amygdala in the processing of positive emotions is how the activity of the brain structure tells us what kind of stimuli it’s processing. If there is high activity of the amygdala, it is most likely that activity in response to a negative stimulus. However, if there is little activity that means that it is trying to process a positive stimulus. With all of this in mind, I became curious how the amygdala would respond to aesthetic stimuli, more specifically nature.  

In an article by Sudimac et al titled “How nature nurtures: Amygdala activity decreases as the result of one-hour walk in nature”, they created a model to investigate the role of a forest environment compared to a city environment in the stress mechanisms of the brain. To do this, they utilized an fMRI procedure where they asked the participants to do two major tasks called the Fearful Faces Task (FFT) and the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) to promote social stress. The researchers would have the participants perform the FFT and MIST and then have the participants walk in either an urban or natural environment for about an hour. Afterwards, the participants would then undergo the pre-FMRI procedure again. The forest environment or natural environment is described as a green area present in an urban environment whereas an urban environment is referring to a busy intersection/street in the city. Some major findings discovered a decrease in amygdala activity following the initial FFT and MIST in participants that took the forest walk. For those in the urban environment, the amygdala activity remained constant in this environment following the initial FFT and MIST.  

It’s not just social media that can lead to negative emotions, but also the environments we place ourselves in. Both studies help demonstrate (1) that positive emotions have a beneficial effect on us in preventing mental illnesses such as depression and (2) that we can perform activities that promote positive emotions via stimuli such as nature. The next time you find yourself stressed or overwhelmed by either social media or the environment you’re in, take some time to go for a walk around where you live or do activities that lower your stress.  

References: 

Rebecca Alexander et al. “The Neuroscience of Positive Emotions and Affect: Implications for Cultivating Happiness and Wellbeing.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Pergamon, 8 Dec. 2020, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763420306801?via%3Dihub. 

Sudimac, S., Sale, V. & Kühn, S. How nature nurtures: Amygdala activity decreases as the result of a one-hour walk in nature. Mol Psychiatry 27, 4446–4452 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01720-6