Default mode network connectivity contributes the augment effect stress recovery by natural viewing
Zi-Ni Chen, Chanyu Wang, T. Toulopoulou, Xiayan Chen, Lijing Niu, Haowei Dai, Qingzi Zhu, Yuan-Yuan Zeng, Ruibin Zhang
Neurobiology of Stress September 12, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2025.100759 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 131 |
| Population | Healthy university students |
| Interventions | Nature image viewing City image viewing |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | Viewing nature images after stress induction led to greater improvements in positive affect, lower negative affect, and less state rumination compared with viewing city images. Functional connectivity changes in the default mode network, especially involving the medial subsystem, were correlated with these behavioral recovery effects, suggesting a neural mechanism for nature's restorative benefits. |
Abstract
The psychological benefits of exposure to natural environments are well established. However, whether simply viewing nature images produce similar restorative effects and the brain mechanisms involved remain unclear. For study purposes, we recruited 131 healthy university students and randomly assigned them to a nature image viewing group (NG) or a city image viewing group (CG), with 49 participants further selected (NG = 26, CG = 23) to undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing behavioral tasks. First, we compared changes in subjective ratings and salivary cortisol levels, related to affect and stress between the NG and CG after stress induction and image viewing. Next, we examined differences in functional connectivity (FC) patterns of the default mode network (DMN) between the groups during image viewing. Finally, we explored correlations between the recovery effects observed after viewing nature images, along with alterations in FC. Under stress, NG participants reported greater changes in subjective ratings of positive affect (t = 2.610, p = 0.010), lower negative affect (t = −3.008, p = 0.003), and less state rumination (t = −2.103, p = 0.037). Neural data also suggest that connectivity of the DMN subsystems with attentional and executive regions plays a crucial role in modulating stress-related responses during natural experiences. Increased FC between the medial DMN subsystem and other networks was significantly correlated with behavioral recovery scores for both affect and state rumination. These findings indicate that viewing images of natural scenes can aid in stress recovery, highlighting the potential for indoor nature viewing to help mitigate psychological challenges faced in urban environments.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Healthy volunteers | 2012 | Within-subjects, placebo-controlled, task-free fMRI study | n = 30 |
| The effects of psilocybin and MDMA on between-network resting state functional connectivity in healthy volunteers | 2014 | Placebo-controlled study | |
| Ketamine Decreases Resting State Functional Network Connectivity in Healthy Subjects: Implications for Antidepressant Drug Action Healthy subjects | 2012 | Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover rsfMRI challenge | |
| Antidepressants Normalize the Default Mode Network in Patients With Dysthymia Subjects with dysthymic disorder and healthy control participants aged 18 to 53 years | 2013 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Functional Connectivity Measures After Psilocybin Inform a Novel Hypothesis of Early Psychosis Healthy volunteers | 2012 | Within-subject, placebo-controlled experimental study | n = 15 |