Capitol News

Urbanization is progressing rapidly worldwide, with the percentage of people living in urban areas increasing from 33% in 1960 to 57% in 2023. Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) are pioneering efforts to use brain activity to predict visits to urban areas, potentially informing better urban planning and design.

The study, led by Dar Meshi, an associate professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations and director of the Social Media and Neuroscience Lab at MSU, was published in Nature Cities. Collaborators included researchers from the University of Lisbon in Portugal. The research found that the brain's reward system influences human behavior within urban environments and can assist in designing cities that promote sustainable living.

Meshi highlighted the potential impact of neurourbanism: “Neurourbanism has the potential to contribute significantly to the design of cities that prioritize cognitive, emotional and physical well-being.” He emphasized that prioritizing individual well-being could create environments conducive to overall health and happiness.

The study focused on brain activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a region involved in valuation and decision-making. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan participants' brains while they viewed photos of urban environments in Lisbon. The density of geotagged images on Flickr served as a proxy for visitation patterns.

“Previous neuroforecasting research has used activity in the brain’s reward system, including the vmPFC, to predict a variety of population behaviors,” said Ardaman Kaur, a postdoctoral researcher at MSU's Institute for Quantitative Health Sciences and Engineering.

The findings suggest neural activity in the vmPFC can predict visitation patterns. “People typically make decisions to maximize value," Meshi explained. "Because certain urban areas induce greater value-related brain activity than others, people are more likely to travel to or take pictures of those areas.”

Kaur added that this research provides insight into how our brains encode information related to urban environments: “The insights from our study can potentially aid in developing future human-centric cities."

Meshi believes their approach could refine urban planning strategies: “By incorporating these findings into urban infrastructure and services, we may be able to create cities that are more efficient and enhance population livability.”