The Influence of the Environment on Directed Attention, Blood Pressure and Heart Rate—An Experimental Study Using a Relaxation Intervention

Sahlin, Eva; Lindegård, Agneta; Hadžibajramović, Emina; Grahn, Patrik; Matuszczyk, Josefa Vega; Ahlborg, Gunnar

doi:10.1080/01426397.2014.982079

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Furthermore, as described in the introductory section, studies in which stress was measured by self-report (e.g., Morita et al, 2007;Takayama et al, 2014) were considered outside the scope of the review. Likewise, we excluded studies including only HR, blood pressure, or pulse as indicators of a stress response (Kjellgren & Buhrkall, 2010;Mao, Cao, et al, 2012;Sahlin et al, 2016). Fluctuations in these measures are related to the neurobiological stress activation system, but they are also influenced by a range of other cardiac influences.…”

Section: Study Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of public green space on acute psychophysiological stress response: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the experimental and quasi-experimental evidence

Mygind¹,

Kjeldsted²,

Hartmeyer³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Contact with nature is widely considered to ameliorate psychological stress, but the empirical support for a causal link is limited. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize and critically assess the evidence. Six electronic databases were searched. Twenty-six studies evaluated the difference between the effect of natural environments and that of a suitable control on the acute psychophysiological stress response. Eighteen studies were rated as being of moderate quality, 4 low quality, and 4 high quality. Meta-analyses indicated that seated relaxation (g = .5, p =.06) and walking (g = .3, p =.02) in natural environments enhanced heart rate variability more than the same activities in control conditions. Cortisol concentration measures were inconsistent. While intuitively and theoretically sound, the empirical support for acute stress-reducing effects of immersion in natural environments is tentative due to small sample sizes and methodological weaknesses in the studies. We provide guidelines for future research.

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Section: Study Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of public green space on acute psychophysiological stress response: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the experimental and quasi-experimental evidence

Mygind¹,

Kjeldsted²,

Hartmeyer³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Increases in cognitive capacity (ART) are observed across specific domains following exposure to naturalistic stimuli101112. These effects may be amplified in individuals experiencing high levels of self-reported cognitive exhaustion11.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These effects may be amplified in individuals experiencing high levels of self-reported cognitive exhaustion11. However, the cognitive benefits that are central to the ART model provide no proximate explanation for the physiological effects induced by naturalistic environments13.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mind-wandering and alterations to default mode network connectivity when listening to naturalistic versus artificial sounds

Praag

Garfinkel

Sparasci

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Naturalistic environments have been demonstrated to promote relaxation and wellbeing. We assess opposing theoretical accounts for these effects through investigation of autonomic arousal and alterations of activation and functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) of the brain while participants listened to sounds from artificial and natural environments. We found no evidence for increased DMN activity in the naturalistic compared to artificial or control condition, however, seed based functional connectivity showed a shift from anterior to posterior midline functional coupling in the naturalistic condition. These changes were accompanied by an increase in peak high frequency heart rate variability, indicating an increase in parasympathetic activity in the naturalistic condition in line with the Stress Recovery Theory of nature exposure. Changes in heart rate and the peak high frequency were correlated with baseline functional connectivity within the DMN and baseline parasympathetic tone respectively, highlighting the importance of individual neural and autonomic differences in the response to nature exposure. Our findings may help explain reported health benefits of exposure to natural environments, through identification of alterations to autonomic activity and functional coupling within the DMN when listening to naturalistic sounds.

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“…Necker Cube Pattern Control. We used the Necker Cube Pattern Control Test to measure participants' attentional control (Orbach et al, 1963;Cimprich, 1993;Sahlin et al, 2016). The Necker cube is an optical illusion that consists of a cube outline that lacks visual cues to indicate its orientation ( Figure S1a); with continued viewing, the viewer observes shifts in perspective between back-in-focus and front-in-focus.…”

Section: Experiments 1 Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of human-animal interactions on affect and cognition

Stevens¹,

Thayer²

2020

Preprint

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Human-animal interaction has clear positive effects on people's affect and stress. But less is know about how animal interactions influence cognition. The aim of this study is to investigate whether interacting with animals improves cognitive performance, specifically executive functioning. To test this, we conducted two experiments in which we had participants self-report their affect and complete a series of cognitive tasks (long-term memory, attentional control, and working memory) before and after either a brief interaction with a dog or a control activity. We found that interacting with a dog improved positive affect and decreased negative affect, stress, and anxiety compared to the control condition. However, we did not find effects of animal interaction on long-term memory, attentional control, or working memory. Thus, we replicated existing findings providing evidence that interacting with animals can improve affect, but we did not find similar improvements in cognitive performance. These results suggest that either our interaction was not of sufficient dose to elicit effects on cognition or the mechanisms underlying effects of human-animal interaction on cognition differ from effects generated by other cognition-enhancing interventions such as exposure to nature. Future research should continue to grow the connection between nature exposure and human-animal interaction studies to build our understanding of cognition in response to animal interactions.

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The Influence of the Environment on Directed Attention, Blood Pressure and Heart Rate—An Experimental Study Using a Relaxation Intervention

Cited by 20 publications

References 39 publications

Effects of public green space on acute psychophysiological stress response: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the experimental and quasi-experimental evidence

Effects of public green space on acute psychophysiological stress response: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the experimental and quasi-experimental evidence

Mind-wandering and alterations to default mode network connectivity when listening to naturalistic versus artificial sounds

Effects of human-animal interactions on affect and cognition

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