Hemodynamic Response to Three Types of Urban Spaces before and after Lockdown during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo, Ayako Mukoyama, Sho Naganawa, Ippeita Dan, Syeda Fabeha Husain, Cyrus S. Ho and Roger Ho
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Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo: Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech) MD6, 14 Medical Drive, #14-01, Singapore 117599, Singapore
Ayako Mukoyama: Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8551, Japan
Sho Naganawa: Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8551, Japan
Ippeita Dan: Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8551, Japan
Syeda Fabeha Husain: Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, NUHS Tower Block, Level 9, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore
Cyrus S. Ho: Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, NUHS Tower Block, Level 9, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore
Roger Ho: Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech) MD6, 14 Medical Drive, #14-01, Singapore 117599, Singapore

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: (1) Background: Prolonged lockdowns with stay-at-home orders have been introduced in many countries since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have caused a drastic change in the everyday lives of people living in urbanized areas, and are considered to contribute to a modified perception of the public space. As research related to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on mental health and well-being emerges, the associated longitudinal changes of brain hemodynamics in healthy adults remain largely unknown. (2) Methods: this study examined the hemodynamic activation patterns of the prefrontal and occipital cortices of 12 participants (5 male, M age = 47.80, SD age = 17.79, range 25 to 74, and 7 female, M age = 39.00, SD age = 18.18, range 21 to 65) passively viewing videos from three urban sites in Singapore (Urban Park, Neighborhood Landscape and City Center) at two different time points—T1, before the COVID-19 pandemic and T2, soon after the lockdown was over. (3) Results: We observed a significant and marginally significant decrease in average oxyhemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) over time for each of the visual conditions. For both green spaces (Urban Park and Neighborhood Landscape), the decrease was in the visual cortex, while for the City Center with no green elements, the marginal decrease was observed in the visual cortex and the frontal eye fields. (4) Conclusions: The results suggest that the COVID-19-related lockdown experienced by urban inhabitants may have contributed to decreased brain hemodynamics, which are further related to a heightened risk of mental health disorders, such as depression or a decline in cognitive functions. Moreover, the busy City Center scenes induced a hemodynamic pattern associated with stress and anxiety, while urban green spaces did not cause such an effect. Urban green scenes can be an important factor to offset the negative neuropsychological impact of busy urban environments post-pandemic.

Keywords: fNIRS; brain; lockdown; park; urban; environment; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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