Geography and Human Environment Department, Exact Science Faculty, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
The Bruce and Ruth Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Technion, Technical Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 4;19(13):8190. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19138190.
Studies on the effect of urban environments on human risk to health and well-being tend to focus on either physiological or cognitive and emotional effects. For each of these effects, several indicators have been proposed. They are determined either by a physiological-emotional theory or by a cognitive theory of direct attention. However, the interrelationships between these indices have not been thoroughly investigated in environmental contexts. Recently, a neuro-visceral model that incorporates all three aspects has been proposed. The present article focuses on understanding the mechanism of coping with urban environments. More specifically, we analyze the interrelations among nine of the more commonly used indices that represent the physiological, emotional and cognitive aspects of coping with urban environments. The data were collected in the following four environments: home, park, city center and residential area. The participants were 72 healthy, middle-class mothers with either high school or postgraduate education. They wherein their fertile age (20-35) with average Body Mass Index (BMI) of 22.2 and S.D. of 0.8 (48 Arab Muslims and 24 Jewish). They were recruited in a snowball method. Path analysis and principal component analysis are used in order to identify the interrelations among the physiological, cognitive and emotional indices and the directions of these interrelations. According to the findings, the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), as measured by Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and primarily the parasympathetic tone (High frequency-HF) is the pivotal mechanism that modulates emotional and cognitive responses to environmental nuisances. The ANS response precedes and may trigger the emotional and the cognitive responses, which are only partially interrelated. It appears that the autonomic balance measured by Standard Deviation of NN interval (SDNN) and HF, the cognitive index of restoration and the emotional indices of discomfort and relaxation are closely interrelated. These seemingly disparate operands work together to form a comprehensive underlying network that apparently causes stress and risk to health in urban environments while restoring health in green environments.
关于城市环境对人类健康和幸福感影响的研究，往往侧重于生理或认知和情感影响。对于每一种影响，都提出了几个指标。它们要么是由生理-情感理论确定的，要么是由直接注意力的认知理论确定的。然而，在环境背景下，这些指标之间的相互关系尚未得到彻底研究。最近，提出了一种包含所有三个方面的神经-内脏模型。本文侧重于理解应对城市环境的机制。更具体地说，我们分析了代表应对城市环境的生理、情感和认知方面的九个常用指标之间的相互关系。数据是在以下四个环境中收集的：家、公园、市中心和住宅区。参与者是 72 名健康的中产阶级母亲，她们受过高中或研究生教育。她们处于生育年龄（20-35 岁），平均体重指数（BMI）为 22.2，标准差（SD）为 0.8（48 名阿拉伯穆斯林和 24 名犹太教）。她们是通过滚雪球的方式招募的。路径分析和主成分分析用于确定生理、认知和情感指标之间的相互关系以及这些相互关系的方向。根据研究结果，自主神经系统（ANS），如心率变异性（HRV）所测量的，主要是副交感神经（高频-HF），是调节对环境危害的情绪和认知反应的关键机制。ANS 反应先于并可能引发情绪和认知反应，而这些反应仅部分相互关联。看来，由 NN 间期标准差（SDNN）和 HF 测量的自主平衡、认知恢复指数以及不适和放松的情绪指数密切相关。这些看似不同的操作数共同构成了一个综合的基础网络，显然会在城市环境中引起压力和健康风险，而在绿色环境中则会恢复健康。
