Nature exposure found to alleviate pain through brain changes

A new neuroimaging study has revealed that viewing nature can help ease how people experience pain, by reducing the brain activity linked to pain perception.

Published in the journal Nature Communications and led by a team from the University of Vienna and University of Exeter, the research offers a promising foundation for new types of non-pharmacological pain treatments.

Using an fMRI scanner, researchers monitored the brain activity of 49 participants in Austria, as they received pain delivered through a series of small electric shocks. When they were watching videos of a natural scene compared to a city or an indoor office, participants not only reported feeling less pain, but scans showed the specific brain responses associated with processing pain changed too.

The study used advanced machine-learning to analyze the brain networks related to pain processing. The team discovered that the raw sensory signals the brain receives when something hurts were reduced when watching a carefully designed, high quality, virtual nature scene. The study confirmed previous findings that suggest nature can reduce subjective reports of pain, and also marks the first clear demonstration of how natural environments influence the brain, helping to buffer against unpleasant experiences.

Numerous studies have shown that people consistently report feeling less pain when exposed to nature. Yet until now, the underlying reasons for this effect were unclear. Our study is the first to provide evidence from brain scans that this isn't just a 'placebo' effect – driven by people's beliefs and expectations that nature is good for them – instead, the brain is reacting less to information about where the pain is coming from and how intense it feels.

Our findings suggest that the pain-relieving effect of nature is genuine, although the effect we found was around half that of painkillers. People in pain should certainly continue taking any medication they have been prescribed. But we hope in future alternative ways of relieving pain, such as experiencing nature, may be used to help improve pain management."

Max Steininger, lead author of the study, University of Vienna PhD student 

The paper also helps shed light on a longstanding mystery of the healing potential of natural settings. Over forty years ago, a seminal study from pioneering American researcher, Roger Ulrich, showed how hospital patients used fewer painkillers and recovered faster when their windows overlooked a green space instead of a brick wall. Yet following decades of research, the mechanisms underlying this effect remained unknown.

The new findings provide the first robust explanation of why Ulrich's patients might have experienced less pain, and demonstrate how virtual nature encounters could bring these benefits to anyone, anywhere – providing a non-invasive, accessible pathway to pain management.

Dr. Alex Smalley, a coauthor from the University of Exeter concluded "This study highlights how virtual encounters can bring the healing potential of nature to people when they can't get outside. But we hope our results also serve as renewed evidence for the importance of protecting healthy and functioning natural environments, encouraging people to spend time in nature for the benefit of both the planet and people."

"The fact that this pain-relieving effect can be achieved through a virtual nature exposure which is easy to administer has important practical implications for non drug treatments, and opens new avenues for research to better understand how nature impacts our minds."

The paper is titled 'Nature exposure induces analgesic effects by acting on nociception-related neural processing' and is published in Nature Communications.