The neurological and psychological effects of human and nature interaction: walking in natural landscape and landscaped garden environments

Abstract

Living in an urban environment causes a low connection with nature. Both Natural Landscapes (NL) and Landscaped Gardens (LG) have positive influences on human neurological and psychological well-being. The inter-discipline of neuroarchitecture provides for examining the neurological effects of the environment. This thesis aims to understand the difference between walking in NL (woodland with natural water features- Eymir Lake) and LG (human-made garden with artificial water features- Park Oran Residential Area) environments. The neurological methodology of the study has an electroencephalogram (EEG), a measurement to analyze before- after the alpha to the beta brain frequency band. The findings demonstrate that walking in LG has more potential to increase relaxation and decrease stress than in the NL environment. This study aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the correlation between the neurological and psychological effects of different types of natural environments.