YONDER Study (Effects of Brief Nature Exposure on Brain Functioning and Stress Reactivity)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Summary
This study is focused on understanding the impact of time spent in nature (relative to an urban control) on stress, neural, and cardiac functioning in people experiencing high levels of stress, depression, and anxiety.
Description
Associations between urbanization and mental illness have long been recognized, but the mechanistic pathways underlying this association are not well understood and likely multifactorial. Reduced contact with nature may contribute to the increased psychopathology observed in urban environments. Theories implicating attention restoration and stress reduction functions via cognitive control and reward brain networks have been proposed to explain how natural environments may decrease stress and promote mental health, particularly in individuals with high-stress loads who are at-risk for developi…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–25 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Meets cut-off for high level of perceived stress on PSS-10 during screening (\>27 total score); Current or past depressive and anxiety disorders, if present on SCID-5 assessment, will be ncluded due to their high prevalence and overlap with perceived stress * Normal, or corrected to normal, vision (due to the visual nature of the EEG tasks) * If on psychotropic medication, stable regime for \> 1 month Exclusion Criteria: * Major medical conditions with CNS sequelae (e.g., seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, significant, uncontrolled cardiovascular pathology) Past or…
Interventions
- OtherNature vs. Urban walks
We will evaluate the impact of spending time in nature vs. an urban control on EEG-based measures of reward and attention and resting heart rate variability
Location
- University of San Francisco California OR San Francisco VA Medical CenterSan Francisco, California