NEUROARCHITECTURE-BASED ASSESSMENT OF COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO BIOPHILIC INTERIOR ENVIRONMENTS USING EEG-INFORMED SPATIAL MODELING
Keywords:
Neuroarchitecture, Biophilic Design, EEG (Electroencephalography), Cognitive Response, Emotional Response, Spatial Modeling, Alpha and Beta Brain Waves, Human–Environment Interaction, Interior Environmental Psychology, Neurocognitive PerformanceAbstract
This study quantitatively investigates the influence of biophilic interior environments on human cognitive and emotional responses by integrating neuroarchitecture principles, EEG-based neural analytics, and data-driven spatial modeling. A total of 60 participants (30 females, 30 males; mean age = 27.4 years) were exposed to three controlled interior settings: high-biophilic (Level-3), moderate-biophilic (Level-2), and non-biophilic control. Brain activity was recorded using a 32-channel EEG system with a 500 Hz sampling rate across all sessions.
A spectral analysis indicated that, in the Level-3 biophilic condition, alpha-band power (8-12 Hz) increased by 34-41% at electrode sites O1/O2, indicating deeper states of relaxation and greater attentional stability. On the other hand, beta-band activity, reflecting cognitive workload (13-30 Hz), was reduced by 18% relative to the control environment. Emotional ratings using EEG-derived frontal asymmetry (F3/F4) showed a 27% leftward shift, reflecting more positive affective states. Performance on a reaction-time task of spatial working memory also improved by 22% in the high-biophilic setting.
These results confirm that neurocognitive benefits can be induced through the use of biophilic interior design elements, while the EEG-informed spatial model developed herein lays the foundation for a predictive framework for optimizing interior environments based on real-time neural responses.
