Published in

MDPI, Land, 7(12), p. 1390, 2023

DOI: 10.3390/land12071390

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Virtual Forest Environment Influences Inhibitory Control

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Exposure to natural green environments, whether through visual media or in person, can bring numerous benefits to physical and mental health. Given the restorative effects that natural forest environments have on the human mind, it is plausible to assume that these effects can also extend to cognitive processes, such as cognitive control, which are fundamental to higher-level cognitive function. In this study, we investigated whether viewing videos of urban or forest environments would have an impact on inhibitory control and attention in people with or without a past COVID-19 infection. To investigate the impact of virtual natural and urban videos on cognitive performance, 45 participants were recruited, and the exposure to forest vs. urban videos was assessed on a Go/No-Go task and an Attentional Network Test. The data showed that in both groups, exposure to the forest videos improved the inhibitory component. The results are discussed in the context of the well-established evidence of the beneficial effects of green environments.