Neuroscience and architecture:What does the brain tell to an emotional experience of architecture via a functional MR study?

Environment psychologically affects individuals.According to the base of cognitive psychology,there is a direct relationship between human behavior,environment,and emotional process.Assuming that pleasantness and unpleasantness are associated with peripheral nervous system activation,the current study aims to explore if the pleasant or unpleasant architectural places can stimulate the brain regions engaged in emotions or not.As the main contribution,we used functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)measuring blood oxygenation level-dependent(BOLD)changes to effectively detect the brain’s region that mainly responds to the emotional-perceptual processes.Based on the results of examining the emotional assessment model of “Pleasure-Arousal”applied to 140 students,30 most-rated images representing 15 pleasant and 15 unpleasant places were shown to 32 participants in a 1.5-T MRI scanner.After applying standard preprocessing steps(re-alignment,slice-timing,coregistration,segmentation,normalization,and smoothing)to functional MR images,first-level analysis was applied to each subject.The results were evaluated using statistical corrections at different levels for female and male participants with the second-level analysis.In conclusion,it has been shown that there is a significant linkage between environmental experience and brain activation so that the architectural qualities can change blood flow in specific brain regions.

Research on Aesthetic Education in Instrumental Music Teaching

Aesthetic education is an important part of instrumental music teaching content.The study of aesthetic education in instrumental music teaching can not only cultivate sentiment and improve artistic accomplishment,but also promote the healthy and all-round development of students.Through the emotional experience,the students can feel the emotion contained in the music,creating and transmitting the beauty in the performance.This paper starts from the importance of aesthetic education in instrumental music teaching,and analyzes the current situation of aesthetic education in instrumental music teaching,and puts forward corresponding implementation strategies,in order to truly realize the value of talent cultivation and art in instrumental music teaching.

Influence of built environment and user experience on the waterfront vitality of historical urban areas: A case study of the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, China

Urban waterfronts are important gateways that reflect a city’s image and characteristics.Evaluating waterfront vitality and its influencing factors is critical for guiding urban waterfront planning and redevelopment.Hourly human movement data,provided by the Baidu Heatmap,were used to explore the weekday and weekend urban vitality spatial distribution characteristics of the waterfronts of the Qinhuai River in Nanjing.Global(ordinary least squares)and local(multiscale geographically weighted regression)models revealed the influence of physicaleenvironmental characteristics(objective)and spatial experience evaluation factors(subjective)on urban vitality.(1)The Qinhuai River waterfront urban vitality agglomeration characteristics were similar between weekdays and weekends,and the core vitality areas were distributed in the dense tourism,commercial,and residential areas along the river.(2)The evaluation of catering experience had the strongest positive correlation with vitality,whereas the waterfront distance had the strongest negative correlation.(3)The influence of each factor on waterfront vitality in the study area exhibited considerable spatial differences,with attenuation trends observed from the east-to-west river sections.This study shows the urban vitality distribution characteristics of the Qinhuai River waterfront spaces.Exploring the influence of physicaleenvironmental and spatial evaluation factors on the vitality distribution can provide a scientific basis and reference for urban waterfront planning and redevelopment focusing on cultivating vitality.