Pain could be reduced by watching nature scenes, new study suggests

Scientists have long suspected that exposure to nature may reduce people’s experience of pain, and now there may be research to prove it.

A new study led by a team from the University of Vienna and the University of Exeter, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, revealed that nature not only relieves psychological symptoms of pain, but also affects the pain centers of the brain, as reported by SWNS.

This discovery could lead to further progress in the exploration of non-pharmaceutical pain treatments, according to the researchers.

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In the study, 49 healthy adults sat inside an fMRI scanner — a machine that monitors brain activity — while they received mild electric shocks.

Screens shown to the participants displayed three different images: a nature scene, an urban scene and a control scene of a nondescript room. Their brains were then checked to see if there was a difference in how much pain they experienced when viewing each scene, SWNS reported.

The researchers then used advanced machine learning to analyze raw sensory signals that the brain receives during periods of physical pain. Results showed that these signals were reduced when participants were exposed to nature scenes.

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This could mean that nature’s pain-relieving effects are not just due to the participants being more relaxed, but that they actually alter the brain’s pain-sensing pathways, according to the researchers.

This research deepened a pre-existing understanding of how nature can affect symptoms of pain, according to University of Vienna PhD student Max Steininger, the lead author of the study.

“Numerous studies have shown that people consistently report feeling less pain when exposed to nature,” he was quoted as saying in a press release from the University of Exeter.

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This study supports previous research that suggested similar findings.

Forty years ago, American researcher Roger Ulrich studied how hospital patients used fewer painkillers and had faster recoveries when their windows overlooked a green space with trees compared to those who looked out at a brick wall, the release stated.

“Our study is the first to provide evidence from brain scans that this isn’t just a ‘placebo’ effect – driven by people’s beliefs and expectations that nature is good for them,” said Steininger.

“Instead, the brain is reacting less to information about where the pain is coming from and how intense it feels.”

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These findings suggest that the pain-relieving effect of nature is genuine, although still significantly less than traditional painkillers. 

Those involved in the study hope to incorporate alternatives, like experiencing nature, to improve overall pain management strategies.

Dr. Alex Smalley, a co-author from the University of Exeter, noted that virtual encounters can bring the healing potential of nature to people when they can’t get outside.

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“But we hope our results also serve as renewed evidence of the importance of protecting healthy and functioning natural environments, encouraging people to spend time in nature for the benefit of both the planet and people,” he said in the press release.

He added, “The fact that this pain-relieving effect can be achieved through virtual nature exposure, which is easy to administer, has important practical implications for non-drug treatments, and opens new avenues for research to better understand how nature impacts our minds.”