ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience

Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1567689

This article is part of the Research TopicNeural Correlates of Environmental Thought, Emotion, and BehaviorView all articles

Nature Imagery's Influence on ERN amplitude: An Examination of Attention Restoration Theory using EEG

Provisionally accepted
Sara-Ashley CollinsSara-Ashley Collins1*Amy S McDonnellAmy S McDonnell2Emily E ScottEmily E Scott3David D McNayDavid D McNay4M f ShannonM f Shannon2Lensky AugustinLensky Augustin2Nicole HoffmannNicole Hoffmann2Sharde JohnsonSharde Johnson1David StrayerDavid Strayer2Sara LoTemplioSara LoTemplio1*
  • 1Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States
  • 2Department of Psychology, College of Social and Behavioral Science, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
  • 3Vermont State University, 337 College Hl, Johnson, VT 05656, Johnson, United States
  • 4Department of Parks, Recreation, & Tourism, College of Health, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

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This study investigated whether exposure to nature imagery influences amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN) similarly to real-world nature. In a repeated-measures randomized control design, 63 participants completed the Eriksen Flanker Task at three testing sessions. At Session 1, participants completed the task after viewing a neutral stimulus for 10 minutes. At Session 2, participants completed the task after viewing either nature or urban imagery for 10 minutes. At Session 3, participants completed the task after viewing the neutral stimulus again for 10 minutes. The ERN component generated from the Eriksen Flanker Task was quantified at each of the three testing sessions to assess changes in cognitive control and error monitoring associated with viewing different types of environmental imagery. Results showed no significant differences in ERN amplitude across sessions or between nature imagery and urban imagery at Session 2, suggesting that brief exposure to nature imagery may not elicit the same attention-dependent responses as real-world nature exposure.

Keywords: Attention Restoration Theory1, EEG2, Nature and Health3, ERN4, Nature Images5

Received: 27 Jan 2025; Accepted: 07 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Collins, McDonnell, Scott, McNay, Shannon, Augustin, Hoffmann, Johnson, Strayer and LoTemplio. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Sara-Ashley Collins, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States
Sara LoTemplio, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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