Higher surrounding green space is associated with better attention in Flemish adolescents

Long-Term Exposure to Greenspace and Cognitive Function during the Lifespan: A Systematic Review

“…The most of studies (N = 27) were published after 2016, when the de Keijzer’s review was conducted. Among the selected articles, 6 studies were longitudinal [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ] and 19 were cross-sectional studies [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ].…”

“…One study collected data from four European countries: Spain, England, Lithuania, and the Netherlands [ 57 ]. Fifteen studies were conducted among children [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 39 , 41 , 44 , 45 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ], six on adults [ 40 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 51 , 57 ], and four among older adults [ 36 , 38 , 47 , 56 ]. The selected studies mainly assessed exposure to greenspace across buffers with a radius ranging from 25 m to 1000 m. Most of the studies (N = 17) [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 47 , 49 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 56 , 57 ] used the Normalized Differences Vegetation Index (NDVI).…”

“…Two studies used also the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and Vegetation Continuous Field (VCF) [ 34 , 36 ], the additional indexes that, respectively, measure vegetation and tree cover [ 58 , 59 ]. Ten studies [ 39 , 40 , 44 , 45 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 53 , 54 ] also used other indicators of greenspace exposure as data from Multiple Environmental Deprivation Index (MEDIx), tree canopy cover, grass/shrub cover, and average percent impervious surfaces, and one study used the percentage of time spent in a greenspace. A deeper description of the characteristics of greenspace exposure assessment is in Table S3, Supplementary Materials .…”

“…Evaluated outcomes varied among the studies across the age groups: attention and executive functions among children, adolescents, and adults (N = 6) [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 39 , 46 , 57 ], memory among children and adults (N = 3) [ 40 , 44 , 51 ], global cognition among children, adults, and older adults (N = 8) [ 36 , 38 , 42 , 43 , 47 , 54 , 56 , 60 ], and academic achievement among children (N = 8) [ 41 , 45 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 53 , 55 ].…”

“…Table 2 shows selected studies classified according to the Bayesian average method. Eight studies [ 39 , 42 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 53 , 57 , 60 ] showed a small association between greenspace exposure and cognitive functioning, eleven studies indicated medium association [ 33 , 36 , 38 , 41 , 44 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 54 , 56 ], and six studies revealed strong association [ 34 , 35 , 40 , 43 , 52 , 55 ].…”