The human brain is hard-wired to enjoy the calm of the countryside, while cities make us confused, anxious and aggressive researchers from Exeter University have discovered.
The results of the research could be due to the fact humans lived in rural environments for hundreds of years.
To test their theory of countryside versus city living, scientists at the University wired participants to an MRI scanner before showing them images of cities and country landscapes.
The results showed that looking at rural images makes the limbic or 'calm' area of the brain light up,
This area is associated with feelings of calm and peacefulness and is part of the brain shared with monkeys and primates.
Whereas images of cities cause the visual cortex in the occipital lobe or the 'visual complexity' area to be activated.
This caused the brain to try and scan the image, make sense of everything it was seeing and process all the information, which can lead to confusion and anxiety.
This was even the case when 'dull' rural images were shown leading the researchers to conclude its not just idyllic-looking places that cause this feeling of calm.
These findings are just preliminary results shared with The Independent and the researchers plan to test the theory further to find out exactly why this happens.
Dr Ian Frampton, an Exeter University psychologist told The Independent: 'When looking at urban environments the brain is doing a lot of processing because it doesn't know what this environment is.
'The brain doesn't have an immediate natural response to it, so it has to get busy.
'Even if you have lived in a city all your life, it seems your brain doesn't quite know what to do with this information and has to do visual processing.'
When the brain is confused and anxious it can also lead to increases in angry and aggressive behaviour and Professor Michael Depledge, also from the university, said that a similar experience is seen in zoos.
'If you don't get the conditions right in zoos, the animals start behaving in a wacky way.
'There have been studies done with laboratory animals showing their feeding is abnormal. Sometimes they stop eating and sometimes they eat excessively.
↧