Abstract Multiple previous studies have reported that viewing natural scenery supports recovery from psychological stress. Viewing flowers is thus predicted to provide a recovery effect similar to that of viewing natural scenery. It remains unclear, however, how effectively viewing flowers promotes recovery and how the practice affects the brain. Using psychological, physiological, and neuroscientific techniques, we investigated the process through which viewing flowers regulates emotion. We found that passive viewing of a typical flower image downregulated negative emotions and decreased both elevated blood pressure and cortisol levels, which are two signs of stress-induced elevation, in response to an acute visual stressor (negative images). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined brain-activation patterns relevant to emotion regulation with automatic distraction upon viewing the typical flower image. We demonstrated that activation of the right amygdala–hippocampus region was decreased during viewing of this image in comparison to viewing a flower-mosaic or a visual fixation point after an acute visual stressor. Our results suggest that viewing a flower may induce automatic distraction from a stressor and lead to a reduction in amygdala–hippocampus activation and negative emotion, thereby downregulating physiological responses.

中文翻译：

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观看花卉图像提供心理压力后的自动恢复效果3

摘要 先前的多项研究表明，观赏自然风光有助于心理压力的恢复。因此，预计观赏花卉会提供类似于观赏自然风光的恢复效果。然而，目前尚不清楚观赏花卉如何有效促进康复以及这种做法如何影响大脑。我们使用心理学、生理学和神经科学技术，研究了观赏花卉调节情绪的过程。我们发现，被动观看典型的花卉图像会降低负面情绪并降低血压和皮质醇水平升高，这是压力引起的升高的两个迹象，以应对急性视觉压力源（负面图像）。使用功能磁共振成像 (fMRI)，我们在查看典型的花卉图像时，通过自动分心检查了与情绪调节相关的大脑激活模式。我们证明，与在急性视觉压力源后观看花卉马赛克或视觉固定点相比，在观看此图像期间右侧杏仁核 - 海马区的激活减少。我们的研究结果表明，看花可能会导致压力源自动分心，并导致杏仁核 - 海马体激活和负面情绪减少，从而下调生理反应。我们证明，与在急性视觉压力源后观看花卉马赛克或视觉固定点相比，在观看此图像期间右侧杏仁核 - 海马区的激活减少。我们的研究结果表明，看花可能会导致压力源自动分心，并导致杏仁核 - 海马体激活和负面情绪减少，从而下调生理反应。我们证明，与在急性视觉压力源后观看花卉马赛克或视觉固定点相比，在观看此图像期间右侧杏仁核 - 海马区的激活减少。我们的研究结果表明，看花可能会导致压力源自动分心，并导致杏仁核 - 海马体激活和负面情绪减少，从而下调生理反应。