Exposure of nature found to alleviate pain through brain changes

A new neuroimaging study revealed that watching nature can help alleviate how people experience pain by reducing brain activity associated with pain perception.

Published in the journal and led by a team from the University of Vienna and the University of Exeter, research is promising foundations for new types of non -pharmacological pain.

Using the FMRI scanner, scientists monitored brain activity of 49 participants in Austria because they received pain supplied by a number of small electrical failures. When they watched movies from a natural scene compared to the city or internal office, the participants not only reported the feeling of less pain, but the scans showed that the special brain reactions related to the processing pain changed.

The study uses advanced machine learning to analyze the brain network related to pain processing. The band discovered that raw sensory signals that the brain receives when something hurt was reduced while watching carefully designed, high -quality virtual nature scene. The study confirmed earlier findings, which suggest that nature can reduce subjective pain reports, and also means the first clear demonstration, how natural environments affect the brain, helping buffering against unpleasant experiences.

Numerous studies have shown that people consistently report the feeling of less pain when they are exposed to nature. However, until now the basic reasons for this effect have been unclear. Our study is the first to provide evidence of brain scans that this is not just a “placebo” effect – driven by the beliefs and expectations of people that nature is good for them – instead, the brain reacts less to information about where the pain comes from and how it feels.

Our findings suggest that the effect of nature causing pain is authentic, although the effect we found was about half of the painkiller. People in pain should certainly still take all the drugs that have been prescribed. However, we hope that in future alternative ways to relieve pain, such as experiencing nature, they can be used to improve pain treatment. “

Max Steininger, main author of the study, Dr -Student University of Vienna

The article also helps to shed light at the mystery of the healing potential of natural settings. Over forty years ago, a breakthrough study of the pioneering American researcher, Roger Ulrich, showed how patients from hospitals used less painkillers and recovered faster when their windows overpugged the green space instead of a brick wall. However, after decades of research, the mechanisms underlying this effect remained unknown.

New discoveries are the first solid explanation why Ulrich’s patients could experience less pain and show how virtual nature meetings can bring these benefits to everyone, anywhere-providing a non-invasive, available path for the treatment of pain.

Dr. Alex Smalley, co -author from the University of Exeter, said: “This study emphasizes how virtual meetings can bring potential to heal nature when they cannot go outside. We hope that our results also serve as renewed evidence of the importance of protecting a healthy and functioning natural environment, encouraging people to spend time in nature in favor of both the planet and people. “

“The fact that this pain effect can be achieved through a virtual exposure of nature, which is easy to give, has important practical implications for drugs without drugs and opens new research opportunities to better understand how nature affects our minds.”

The article is entitled “The exposure to nature induces painkillers by acting in neural processing related to ncception” and is published in.