The mechanistic and neural bases of why green environments drive positive mental health outcomes remain poorly understood. We show that viewing green urban landscapes that vary in terms of green-space density elicits corresponding changes in the activity of the human ventral posterior cingulate cortex that is correlated to behavioural stress-related responses. We further show that cingulate responses are engaged early in the processing cascade, influencing attentional and executive regions in a predominantly feedforward manner. Our data suggest a key role for this region in regulating (nature) dose-dependent changes in stress responses, potentially through its extensive connections to the prefrontal and hippocampal regions which in turn project towards the neuroendocrine system. As the posterior cingulate cortex is implicated in a variety of neurological diseases and disorders, these findings raise a therapeutic potential for natural environmental exposure, highlighting green-cover as a modifiable element that links to changes in limbic responses, and has health consequences for practitioners and city-planners alike.

中文翻译：

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人类后扣带回和观看绿色城市景观的压力反应益处

绿色环境为何会带来积极的心理健康结果的机制和神经基础仍然知之甚少。我们表明，观察在绿地密度方面不同的绿色城市景观会引起与行为压力相关反应相关的人类腹侧后扣带皮层活动的相应变化。我们进一步表明扣带回反应在处理级联的早期参与，以主要前馈方式影响注意力和执行区域。我们的数据表明，该区域在调节应激反应的（自然）剂量依赖性变化方面发挥着关键作用，这可能是通过其与前额叶和海马区域的广泛联系，进而投射到神经内分泌系统。