TEHRAN – In a new study, neuroscientists at the University of Vienna have discovered that viewing natural scenes, real or virtual, will significantly alleviate the intensity of physical pain.

The study was conducted in cooperation with an international team, finding that looking at nature can relieve pain by changing the way the brain reacts to pain. 

“Pain processing is a complex phenomenon,” explains study lead and doctoral student Max Steininger from the University of Vienna. In order to better understand it and identify treatment options, Steininger and his colleagues investigated how nature exposure influences pain: participants suffering from pain were shown three types of videos: a nature scene, an indoor scene, and an urban scene, according to a report published by SciTechDaily.

“Pain is like a puzzle, made up of different pieces that are processed differently in the brain. Some pieces of the puzzle relate to our emotional response to pain, such as how unpleasant we find it. Other pieces correspond to the physical signals underlying the painful experience, such as its location in the body and its intensity. 

Unlike placebos, which usually change our emotional response to pain, viewing nature changed how the brain processed early, raw sensory signals of pain. Thus, the effect appears to be less influenced by participants’ expectations, and more by changes in the underlying pain signals,” explains Steininger.

Claus Lamm, head of research in the group, adds: “From another ongoing study, we know that people consistently report feeling less pain when exposed to natural environments. However, the underlying reason for this has remained unclear – until now. Our study suggests that the brain reacts less to both the physical source and the intensity of the pain.”

Being simple and accessible, this finding will contribute to developing nature-based treatments as an effective supplementary approach to manage pains.

MT/MG