The rise and future of environmental neuroscience in environmental psychology
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Issue Date
2024-09-27
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Authors
McCunn, Lindsay J.
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Abstract
The rise and the future of environmental neuroscience and environmental psychology are happening now simultaneously. Both disciplines hold multivalent opportunities to understand the human condition in a variety of settings. In addition, both examine the mechanisms and extent to which humans interact with particular places—built, natural, or virtual. This chapter discusses the insights and methods native to environmental neuroscience that prompt environmental psychologists to ask questions about what the brain and the body can do with the places around us—and why and how. The answers to these questions buttress the continued merger between these fields so that we can make a positive impact on the design of our cities, our homes, our workplaces, and the natural environments around us. Some classical studies at this intersection are noted as are some of the emerging themes in today’s body of research concerning attention restoration, cognitive load, creativity, mood, and various neuropsychophysiological responses to nature and architecture. A few key scholarly journals, books, and organizations that support environmental neuroscience research are also described, as is the need to augment academic programs and curricula to incorporate and build upon both fields that, together, are becoming a modernizing force in social science.
Description
This an Accepted Manuscript version of a book chapter that was published as: McCunn, L.J. (2024). The rise and future of environmental neuroscience in environmental psychology. In S. Kühn (Ed.), Environmental neuroscience (pp. 19-27). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-64699-7_2