What is NeuroAesthetics?
Neuroaesthetics- The study of brain waves experiencing the aesthetic environment.
This is an exciting approach to interior design that goes beyond the visual, exploring how beauty, nature, and thoughtful design impact our brains and bodies. Now we can prove where art meets biology, showing how our creative choices can lead to tangible health benefits.
Thanks to advancements in brain scanning technology in the 1990s, researchers began to study humans real-time reactions to beauty. This is when neuroaesthetics started to document the physiological effects we experience when encountering something aesthetically pleasing.
Have you ever been in a space that made you feel better? Scientists can now monitor brain activity, track hormone changes, measure heart health, and observe stress reduction in well-designed environments.
We Spend 90% of Our Time Indoors
The Medical Community Stands With Us
While we’re not doctors, with the new advancements in scientific research, home design is being viewed as an alternative health resource. In fact, Dr. Claudia Miller, head of environmental medicine at the University of Texas, made a statement that should transform how every designer views their work:
“Architects and designers have a greater ability to improve public health than medical professionals.”
That’s right. Doctors—the people we trust with our health—say trained interior designers have a greater ability to improve health than they do. This isn’t hyperbole or marketing language. It’s based on decades of research showing that environmental factors have profound, creating lasting impacts on health.
Design directly impacts the physical and emotional health of everyone.
Why is this important to me?
I have an opportunity to heal through interior design. People physically react to their environments, either positively, feeling invigorated and safe, or in a negative way, unable to relax, over stimulated or stressed leaving them uncomfortable and agitated. By using natural materials, layering lighting, interjecting colors which add intrigue and the use of art, we physically feel different, better than before. Biophilia is just one aspect of Neuroaesthetics and is more than brining plants inside. Intentional design lowers blood pressure, reduces cortisol, releases dopamine, and encourages focus. In retail and restaurant design these philosophies when applied correctly encourages clientele to stay longer thus spend more money. A stronger ROI is what any entrepreneur desires for their company.
For me, growing up in East Tennessee surrounded by mountains and ample green space I know the importance of connecting our bodies with nature. I've had my fair share of being in stale, cluttered, noisy, and energetically draining environments. Those spaces create stress when we all need our environments to nurture happiness. Interior Designers trained in the principles of Neuroaesthetics have the potential to change how families, friends and our communities interpret the world through thoughtful healing designs.
