The human posterior cingulate and the stress-response benefits of viewing green urban landscapes

Abstract

The mechanistic and neural bases of why green environments drive positive mental health outcomes remain poorly understood. We show that viewing green urban landscapes that vary in terms of green-space density elicits corresponding changes in the activity of the human ventral posterior cingulate cortex that is correlated to behavioural stress-related responses. We further show that cingulate responses are engaged early in the processing cascade, influencing attentional and executive regions in a predominantly feedforward manner. Our data suggest a key role for this region in regulating (nature) dose-dependent changes in stress responses, potentially through its extensive connections to the prefrontal and hippocampal regions which in turn project towards the neuroendocrine system. As the posterior cingulate cortex is implicated in a variety of neurological diseases and disorders, these findings raise a therapeutic potential for natural environmental exposure, highlighting green-cover as a modifiable element that links to changes in limbic responses, and has health consequences for practitioners and city-planners alike.