Long-Term Exposure to Greenspace and Cognitive Function during the Lifespan: A Systematic Review

Elisabetta Ricciardi, Giuseppina Spano, Antonella Lopez, Luigi Tinella, Carmine Clemente, Giuseppe Elia, Payam Dadvand, Giovanni Sanesi, Andrea Bosco and Alessandro Oronzo Caffò ()
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Elisabetta Ricciardi: Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy
Giuseppina Spano: Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy
Antonella Lopez: Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy
Luigi Tinella: Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy
Carmine Clemente: Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy
Giuseppe Elia: Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy
Payam Dadvand: Barcelona Institute for Global Health, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Giovanni Sanesi: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Studies of Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy
Andrea Bosco: Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy
Alessandro Oronzo Caffò: Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Studies of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-24

Abstract: Recent advances in environmental psychology highlighted the beneficial role of greenspace exposure on cognition. We conducted a systematic review of the available studies on the association of long-term exposure to greenspace and cognitive functions across the lifespan. PRISMA guidelines and the PECOs method were applied to screen for eligible studies. Twenty-five studies from Scopus, PubMed, and PsycINFO met the inclusion criteria. Six studies were longitudinal and nineteen cross-sectional. Fifteen studies focused on schoolchildren, six studies on adults, and four on the elderly. Twenty studies used the NDVI to assess greenspace exposure and the remaining used other indexes. Eight studies employed academic achievement as the outcome, eight studies global cognition, six studies attention/executive functions, and three studies memory. The evidence was inconsistent but suggestive for a beneficial role of greenspace exposure on cognitive functions. Further studies are required, especially among adults and older people, by adopting longitudinal designs.

Keywords: greenspace; cognitive functions; memory; attention; executive functions; visuospatial; Bayesian average (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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