The Environmental Neuroscience Lab at the University of Chicago
is interested in how the physical environment affects the brain and behavior. Previous findings from the ENL show that brief interactions with natural environments (such as walks in a park) can improve memory and attention by 20%. Studies in our lab have examined how interacting with natural environments promotes these improvements, investigating brain networks that underlie the relationship between environment and behavior. We hope to further understand which features of the natural environment lead to improvements in memory and attention as well as identify other manipulations that increase brain efficiency. Our current research examines how physical and social characteristics of urban spaces –including social cohesion, physical disorder, heat, and greenspace– (1) affect interactions between individuals in different neighborhoods and (2) relate to crime. In pursuit of this question, we are using deep learning approaches to analyze large set of social networking, image, and video data from sources including Twitter, Reddit, Yelp, Google Street View, and Sage. With a better understanding and quantification of the relationships between the brain, behavior, and the environment, we hope our research will influence the design of physical spaces in ways that will optimize human mental health, physical health, and overall well-being.
![Lab_photo](https://voices.uchicago.edu/bermanlab/files/2017/01/Lab_photo.jpg)
NEWS
How trees calm us down
Alex Hutchinson, a writer from The New Yorker, wrote an article covering our publication in Scientific Reports about the relationship between Neighborhood Greenspace and Health. Please click here for the article.
Living near trees is good for your health
Chris Mooney, a writer from The Washington Post, wrote an article covering our publication in Scientific Reports about the relationship between Neighborhood Greenspace and Health. Please click here for the article.
SciFoo Camp 2015
"Digital Science is delighted to be collaborating with Google, O’Reilly Media and Nature to organize the 10th annual Science Foo Camp (“Sci Foo” for short). Each year, the event brings together 250 people from around the world who are doing groundbreaking work in...