Piedimonte Alessandro, Lanzo Gianluca, Campaci Francesco, Volpino Valeria, Carlino Elisa
Department of Neurosciences "Rita Levi Montalcini", University of Turin, Corso Raffaello 30, 10126 Turin, Italy.
Carlo Molo Foundation, Via della Rocca 24bis, 10123 Turin, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2025 May 27;15(6):578. doi: 10.3390/brainsci15060578.
: Environmental psychology has long investigated how exposure to natural versus urban environments influences cognitive processes, particularly attention. According to Attention Restoration Theory (ART), natural scenes promote involuntary attention and facilitate recovery from mental fatigue. In this study, we used a modified Posner cueing paradigm to assess how natural and urban backgrounds affect both exogenous (involuntary) and endogenous (voluntary) attention. To capture both behavioral and neural responses, the study collected reaction times (RTs) as a measure of task performance, alongside electrophysiological data (event-related potentials, ERPs: P1, N1, P2, N2, and P3) to explore underlying attentional processes. : Participants completed a visuospatial task in which visual cues anticipated the appearance of a target stimulus, while background images depicting either natural or urban environments remained visible throughout. Attention was assessed under both valid (cue correctly predicts target location) and invalid (cue misleads target location) conditions. : The overall findings align with the existing literature: RTs were shorter in valid trials compared to invalid ones. No main facilitation effect from natural backgrounds was observed. However, participants showed slower RTs in invalid trials with natural backgrounds, which may support ART by suggesting that attention restoration could lead to slower responses in certain attentional scenarios. Electrophysiological data reinforced these behavioral results, revealing an increased N2 amplitude in the natural background invalid condition. : Despite some limitations, this study provides novel insights into human-nature interactions, offering a fresh perspective on the complex relationship between environment and cognition.
环境心理学长期以来一直在研究接触自然环境与城市环境如何影响认知过程，尤其是注意力。根据注意力恢复理论（ART），自然场景能促进非自愿注意，并有助于从精神疲劳中恢复。在本研究中，我们使用了一种改良的波斯纳线索范式来评估自然背景和城市背景如何影响外源性（非自愿）和内源性（自愿）注意。为了捕捉行为和神经反应，该研究收集了反应时间（RTs）作为任务表现的指标，同时收集了电生理数据（事件相关电位，ERPs：P1、N1、P2、N2和P3）以探索潜在的注意过程。
参与者完成了一项视觉空间任务，其中视觉线索预示着目标刺激的出现，而描绘自然或城市环境的背景图像在整个过程中始终可见。在有效（线索正确预测目标位置）和无效（线索误导目标位置）两种条件下评估注意力。
有效试验中的反应时间比无效试验中的短。未观察到自然背景的主要促进作用。然而，参与者在有自然背景的无效试验中反应时间较慢，这可能支持注意力恢复理论，表明注意力恢复可能导致在某些注意场景中反应变慢。电生理数据强化了这些行为结果，发现在自然背景无效条件下N2波幅增加。
尽管存在一些局限性，但这项研究为人类与自然的相互作用提供了新的见解，为环境与认知之间的复杂关系提供了新的视角。
