Residential green space and mental health-related prescription medication sales: An ecological study in Belgium.

BACKGROUND: Residential green space has been associated with mental health benefits, but how such associations vary with green space types is insufficiently known. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate associations between types and quantities of green space and sales of mood disorder medication in Belgium. METHODS: We used aggregated sales data of psycholeptics and psychoanaleptics prescribed to adults from 2006 to 2014. Generalized mixed effects models were used to investigate associations between relative covers of woodland, low-green, grassland, and garden, and average annual medication sales. Models were adjusted for socio-economic background variables, urban-rural differences, and administrative region, and included random effects of latitude and longitude. RESULTS: Urban census tracts were associated with 9-10% higher medication sales. In nationwide models, a 10% increase in relative cover of woodland, garden, and grass was associated with a 1-2% decrease in medication sales. The same association was found for low green but only for men. In stratified models, a 10% increase in relative cover of any green space type in urban census tracts was associated with a decrease of medication sales by 1-3%. In rural census tracts, no protective associations between green space and mood disorder medication sales were observed, with the exception of relative woodland cover for women (-1%), and low green was associated with higher medication sales (+6-7%). CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results suggest that living in green environments may be beneficial for adult mental health. Woodland exposure seemed the most beneficial, but the amount of green space was more important than the type. Results underline the importance of conserving green space in our living environment, for the conservation of biodiversity and for human health.

Motivational Salience Modulates Early Visual Cortex Responses across Task Sets.

Motivationally relevant stimuli benefit from strengthened sensory processing. It is unclear, however, if motivational value of positive and negative valence has similar or dissociable effects on early visual processing. Moreover, whether these perceptual effects are task-specific, stimulus-specific, or more generally feature-based is unknown. In this study, we compared the effects of positive and negative motivational value on early sensory processing using ERPs. We tested the extent to which these effects could generalize to new task contexts and to stimuli sharing common features with the motivationally significant ones. At the behavioral level, stimuli paired with positive incentives were learned faster than stimuli paired with neutral or negative outcomes. The ERP results showed that monetary loss elicited higher neural activity in V1 (at the C1 level) compared with reward, whereas the latter influenced postperceptual processing stages (P300). Importantly, the early loss-related effect generalized to new contexts and to new stimuli with common features, whereas the later reward effects did not spill over to the new context. These results suggest that acquired negative motivational salience can influence early sensory processing by means of plastic changes in feature-based processing in V1.

Feeling happy enhances early spatial encoding of peripheral information automatically: electrophysiological time-course and neural sources.

Previous research has shown that positive mood may broaden attention, although it remains unclear whether this effect has a perceptual or a postperceptual locus. In this study, we addressed this question using high-density event-related potential methods. We randomly assigned participants to a positive or a neutral mood condition. Then they performed a demanding oddball task at fixation (primary task ensuring fixation) and a localization task of peripheral stimuli shown at three positions in the upper visual field (secondary task) concurrently. While positive mood did not influence behavioral performance for the primary task, it did facilitate stimulus localization on the secondary task. At the electrophysiological level, we found that the amplitude of the C1 component (reflecting an early retinotopic encoding of the stimulus in V1) was enhanced in the positive, as compared with the neutral, mood group. Importantly, this effect appeared to be largely automatic, because it occurred regardless of the task relevance of the peripheral stimulus and prior to top-down gain control effects seen at the level of the subsequent P1 component. This early effect was also observed irrespective of a change of the target-related P300 component (primary task) by positive mood. These results suggest that positive mood can automatically boost the spatial encoding of peripheral stimuli early on following stimulus onset. This effect can eventually underlie the broadening of spatial attention, which has been associated with this specific mood state.

Positive emotion broadens attention focus through decreased position-specific spatial encoding in early visual cortex: evidence from ERPs.

Recent evidence has suggested that not only stimulus-specific attributes or top-down expectations can modulate attention selection processes, but also the actual mood state of the participant. In this study, we tested the prediction that the induction of positive mood can dynamically influence attention allocation and, in turn, modulate early stimulus sensory processing in primary visual cortex (V1). High-density visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants performed a demanding task at fixation and were presented with peripheral irrelevant visual textures, whose position was systematically varied in the upper visual field (close, medium, or far relative to fixation). Either a neutral or a positive mood was reliably induced and maintained throughout the experimental session. The ERP results showed that the earliest retinotopic component following stimulus onset (C1) strongly varied in topography as a function of the position of the peripheral distractor, in agreement with a near-far spatial gradient. However, this effect was altered for participants in a positive relative to a neutral mood. On the contrary, positive mood did not modulate attention allocation for the central (task-relevant) stimuli, as reflected by the P300 component. We ran a control behavioral experiment confirming that positive emotion selectively impaired attention allocation to the peripheral distractors. These results suggest a mood-dependent tuning of position-specific encoding in V1 rapidly following stimulus onset. We discuss these results against the dominant broaden-and-build theory.

Residential green space and seasonal distress in a cohort of tree pollen allergy patients.

BACKGROUND: Residential green space may improve human health, for example by promoting physical activity and by reducing stress. Conversely, residential green space may increase stress by emitting aeroallergens and exacerbating allergic disease. Here we examine impacts of exposure to residential green space on distress in the susceptible subpopulation of adults sensitized to tree pollen allergens. METHODS: In a panel study of 88 tree pollen allergy patients we analyzed self-reported mental health (GHQ-12), perceived presence of allergenic trees (hazel, alder, birch) near the residence and residential green space area within 1 km distance [high (≥3 m) and low (<3 m) green]. Results were adjusted for patients' background data (gender, age, BMI, smoking status, physical activity, commuting distance, education level, allergy medication use and chronic respiratory problems) and compared with distress in the general population (N = 2467). RESULTS: Short-term distress [mean GHQ-12 score 2.1 (95% confidence interval 1.5-2.7)] was higher in the study population than in the general population [1.5 (1.4-1.7)]. Residential green space had protective effects against short-term distress [high green, per combined surface area of 10 ha: adjusted odds ratio OR = 0.94 (95% confidence interval 0.90-0.99); low green, per 10 ha: OR = 0.85 (0.78-0.93)]. However, distress was higher in patients who reported perceived presence of allergenic trees near their residence [present vs. absent: OR = 2.04 (1.36-3.07)]. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived presence of allergenic tree species in the neighbourhood of the residence of tree pollen allergy patients modulates the protective effect of residential green space against distress during the airborne tree pollen season.

Feeling happy when feeling down: The effectiveness of positive mental imagery in dysphoria.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mental imagery can evoke strong emotional responses, but imagery perspective can influence the response, with observer perspective reducing emotionality. This is important provided that positive imagery can be an effective mood repair strategy in healthy individuals. However, (sub-clinical) depressed individuals tend to spontaneously adopt an observer perspective. We investigated whether positive imagery would result in a similar emotional response in dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals when instructed and trained to use field perspective imagery. Additionally, we compared the emotional response in dysphoric individuals who received instructions to dysphoric individuals who received no instructions on processing mode during positive memory recall. METHODS: Dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals completed a mood induction procedure imagining positive or neutral memories. They received instructions and practice in the use of field perspective imagery. An additional control group of dysphoric individuals recalled positive memories without receiving instructions on processing mode. RESULTS: Dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals who received instructions on field perspective imagery reported similar use of field and observer perspective imagery, and a similar positive emotional response. Dysphoric individuals who did not receive specific instructions, as compared to those who did, reported greater use of observer perspective and lower levels of positive affect afterwards. LIMITATIONS: A dysphoric sample limits generalization to clinically depressed individuals, although these individuals are at risk for developing depression. However, mental imagery used in relapse prevention is likely targeting sub-clinical populations. CONCLUSIONS: Providing practice in field perspective imagery could potentially improve the effectiveness of positive memory recall as a mood repair strategy in (sub-clinically) depressed individuals, and may therefore have important therapeutic benefits.

Independent effects of motivation and spatial attention in the human visual cortex.

Motivation and attention constitute major determinants of human perception and action. Nonetheless, it remains a matter of debate whether motivation effects on the visual cortex depend on the spatial attention system, or rely on independent pathways. This study investigated the impact of motivation and spatial attention on the activity of the human primary and extrastriate visual cortex by employing a factorial manipulation of the two factors in a cued pattern discrimination task. During stimulus presentation, we recorded event-related potentials and pupillary responses. Motivational relevance increased the amplitudes of the C1 component at ∼70 ms after stimulus onset. This modulation occurred independently of spatial attention effects, which were evident at the P1 level. Furthermore, motivation and spatial attention had independent effects on preparatory activation as measured by the contingent negative variation; and pupil data showed increased activation in response to incentive targets. Taken together, these findings suggest independent pathways for the influence of motivation and spatial attention on the activity of the human visual cortex.

Happy heart, smiling eyes: A systematic review of positive mood effects on broadening of visuospatial attention.

Positive mood contributes to mental and physical wellbeing. The broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2001) proposed that the beneficial effects of positive mood on life quality result from attentional broadening. In this article, we systematically review (following PRISMA guidelines; Moher et al., 2009), a host of studies investigating the nature and extent of attentional changes triggered by the experience of positive mood, with a focus on vision. While several studies reported a broadening of attention, others found that positive mood led to a more diffuse information processing style. Positive mood appears to lessen attention selectivity in a way that is context-specific and bound to limitations. We propose a new framework in which we postulate that positive mood impacts the balance between internally and externally directed attention, through modulations of cognitive control processes, instead of broadening attention per se. This novel model is able to accommodate discrepant findings, seeks to translate the phenomenon of the so-called broadening of attention with positive mood into functional terms, and provides plausible neurobiological mechanisms underlying this effect, suggesting a crucial role of the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex in this interaction.

Happy and less inhibited? Effects of positive mood on inhibitory control during an antisaccade task revealed using topographic evoked potential mapping.

Affective states might influence inhibitory control, a cognitive process fundamental for goal adaptive behavior. Here, we recorded high-density EEG while participants performed an antisaccade task, after the induction of a happy (n=20) or neutral (n=20) mood, to compare the same inhibition-related processes across these two affective contexts. Topographical evoked potential mapping methods were used to characterize changes in the electric field depending on mood and saccade type (pro vs. anti) concurrently. Results showed that prior to target onset, the CNV component was enhanced for anti- compared to prosaccades, selectively in the neutral mood group. Following target onset, the topography of the N2 was more strongly expressed in the happy mood group, and was also altered by saccade type. The subsequent P3 components were not modulated by mood. We discuss these new findings in light of recent neurobiological and neuropsychological models that posit that positive affect dynamically changes cognitive control.