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In search of features that constitute an "enriched environment" in humans : Associations between geographical properties and brain structure

Kühn, Simone ; Düzel, Sandra ; Eibich, Peter ; Krekel, Christian ; Wüstemann, Henry ; Kolbe, Jens ; Martensson, Johan LU ; Goebel, Jan ; Gallinat, Jürgen and Wagner, Gert G. , et al. (2017) In Scientific Reports 7(1).
Abstract

Enriched environments elicit brain plasticity in animals. In humans it is unclear which environment is enriching. Living in a city has been associated with increased amygdala activity in a stress paradigm, and being brought up in a city with increased pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) activity. We set out to identify geographical characteristics that constitute an enriched environment affecting the human brain. We used structural equation modelling on 341 older adults to establish three latent brain factors (amygdala, pACC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)) to test the effects of forest, urban green, water and wasteland around the home address. Our results reveal a significant positive association between the coverage... (More)

Enriched environments elicit brain plasticity in animals. In humans it is unclear which environment is enriching. Living in a city has been associated with increased amygdala activity in a stress paradigm, and being brought up in a city with increased pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) activity. We set out to identify geographical characteristics that constitute an enriched environment affecting the human brain. We used structural equation modelling on 341 older adults to establish three latent brain factors (amygdala, pACC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)) to test the effects of forest, urban green, water and wasteland around the home address. Our results reveal a significant positive association between the coverage of forest and amygdala integrity. We conclude that forests may have salutogenic effects on the integrity of the amygdala. Since cross-sectional data does not allow causal inference it could also be that individuals with high structural integrity choose to live closer to forest.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
7
issue
1
article number
11920
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:28931835
  • scopus:85029660657
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-017-12046-7
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
3ca5f566-8964-4824-b2fc-4848aad627ce
date added to LUP
2018-01-12 15:16:32
date last changed
2024-04-15 00:51:56
@article{3ca5f566-8964-4824-b2fc-4848aad627ce,
  abstract     = {{<p>Enriched environments elicit brain plasticity in animals. In humans it is unclear which environment is enriching. Living in a city has been associated with increased amygdala activity in a stress paradigm, and being brought up in a city with increased pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) activity. We set out to identify geographical characteristics that constitute an enriched environment affecting the human brain. We used structural equation modelling on 341 older adults to establish three latent brain factors (amygdala, pACC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)) to test the effects of forest, urban green, water and wasteland around the home address. Our results reveal a significant positive association between the coverage of forest and amygdala integrity. We conclude that forests may have salutogenic effects on the integrity of the amygdala. Since cross-sectional data does not allow causal inference it could also be that individuals with high structural integrity choose to live closer to forest.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kühn, Simone and Düzel, Sandra and Eibich, Peter and Krekel, Christian and Wüstemann, Henry and Kolbe, Jens and Martensson, Johan and Goebel, Jan and Gallinat, Jürgen and Wagner, Gert G. and Lindenberger, Ulman}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{In search of features that constitute an "enriched environment" in humans : Associations between geographical properties and brain structure}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-12046-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-017-12046-7}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}