Collins Sara A, McDonnell Amy S, Scott Emily E, McNay Glen D, Shannon Mary F, Augustin Lensky, Hoffmann Janet Nicole, Johnson Sharde, Strayer David L, LoTemplio Sara B
Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States.
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2025 Jun 17;19:1567689. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1567689. eCollection 2025.
Empirical research on the mental health and cognitive benefits of nature immersion has expanded significantly in recent decades, building support for Attention Restoration Theory. However, the field still faces interpretive challenges due to inconsistent definitions of 'nature' (whether nature imagery, real-world nature immersion, or other forms) and varied methodologies, which collectively limit our understanding of the underlying mechanisms that potentially drive these benefits. Addressing some of these limitations, the current study investigated whether exposure to virtual nature imagery influences attention restoration, as measured by the amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN), similarly to real-world nature. In a repeated-measures randomized control design, 63 participants completed the Eriksen Flanker Task at three testing sessions. At Session 1, participants completed the task after viewing a neutral stimulus for 10 minutes. At Session 2, participants completed the task after viewing either nature or urban imagery for 10 minutes. At Session 3, participants completed the task after viewing the neutral stimulus again for 10 minutes. The ERN component generated from the Eriksen Flanker Task was quantified at each of the three testing sessions to assess changes in cognitive control and error monitoring associated with viewing different types of environmental imagery. Results showed no significant differences in ERN amplitude across sessions or between nature imagery and urban imagery at Session 2. Collectively, these results suggest that brief exposure to the 2-D nature imagery used within this study may not elicit the same attention-dependent responses as real-world nature exposure.
近几十年来，关于沉浸自然对心理健康和认知益处的实证研究显著扩展，为注意力恢复理论提供了支持。然而，由于“自然”的定义不一致（无论是自然意象、现实世界中的自然沉浸还是其他形式）以及方法多样，该领域仍面临解释方面的挑战，这些因素共同限制了我们对潜在驱动这些益处的潜在机制的理解。为解决其中一些局限性，本研究调查了接触虚拟自然意象是否会像现实世界中的自然一样，通过错误相关负波（ERN）的幅度来影响注意力恢复。在一项重复测量随机对照设计中，63名参与者在三个测试阶段完成了埃里克森侧翼任务。在第一阶段，参与者在观看中性刺激10分钟后完成任务。在第二阶段，参与者在观看自然或城市意象10分钟后完成任务。在第三阶段，参与者在再次观看中性刺激10分钟后完成任务。在三个测试阶段的每一个阶段，对埃里克森侧翼任务产生的ERN成分进行量化，以评估与观看不同类型环境意象相关的认知控制和错误监测的变化。结果显示，各阶段之间以及第二阶段的自然意象和城市意象之间，ERN幅度均无显著差异。总体而言，这些结果表明，本研究中使用的二维自然意象的短暂接触可能不会引发与现实世界自然接触相同的注意力依赖反应。
