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As a child, I often found myself in places where my brain felt overstimulated and agitated. Like church.
Although my experience when visiting grand cathedrals as a tourist is very positive, as a small child in the middle of a crowded congregation, I found that the architecture seemed to overwhelm my body and mind. Sitting on a hard bench was most uncomfortable. In close proximity to a stranger, I had to be still. There was no space for fidgeting.
The ritual dictated when to stand, kneel, and sit. Whether sitting or standing, I couldn’t see anything but the person’s head in front of me.
Chants and songs were similarly prescribed. To self-regulate, I curled my knees up to create a cocoon, my own microenvironment. I plugged my ears. Incense invaded my space. I coughed dramatically and pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose, prompting looks of disapproval.
What was happening in my brain, I wondered? Science would later yield evidence that the intense sensory overload and loss of environmental control were indeed causing me anxiety. I started imagining places I would design someday that made me feel good, not bad. And so began my career journey toward a field which did not then exist, but does today: Neuroscience for Architecture.
A Tipping Point
Around 2000, a convergence of factors enabled the field of Neuroscience for Architecture to emerge. Groundbreaking studies revealed that rats living in more stimulating environments developed more new neurons and excelled at cognitive tasks compared to those in standard cages. These enriched environments provided greater opportunities for movement, exploration, sensory engagement, and socialization. If true for rats, could “enriched” buildings and spaces similarly alter human brains and behaviors?
During this period, imaging and brainwave recording technologies became more sophisticated, equipping scientists with tools to study real-time brain activity in response to spatial and environmental features. Over the next two decades, the neuroscience boom generated new insights for many applied professions, including architecture. Environmental neuroscience imaging studies demonstrated the benefits of nature-based elements. The discovery of place-sensitive neurons provided insight into how we navigate complex environments, and light-sensitive photoreceptors led to circadian lighting to support biological sleep-wake cycles.
Researchers also delved into enriched environments for humans. Studies are currently exploring how the design of rehabilitation units and memory care centers can stimulate brain repair and recovery in people experiencing structural loss and function decline from stroke, traumatic brain injury, and dementia.
Neuroscience for Architecture Comes of Age
It is widely acknowledged that as much as two-thirds of health outcomes are driven by environmental and social determinants, while only one-third is attributable to genetics and medical care. Health is shaped continuously by the environments people live in. Most of us spend 90 percent of our lives indoors. Yet, most building codes say nothing about human biology.
A rare exception is California’s Proposition 65, which requires warning labels about exposure risks in buildings.
Today, we find ourselves at the threshold of a new era, one that integrates neuroscience with new ways of understanding health and environmental impacts. You may be wearing a biometric sensor right now, embedded in your smartwatch or ring, that tracks your heart rate, activity, sleep, or stress. These devices provide surrogate measures of your nervous system activity and allow you to compare your physiological responses across different environments: Are you experiencing elevated stress working in an office compared to working at home? Are you sleeping less in a hospital room with constant alarms and ambient hallway light?
Public health science is using data from wearables, integrated with many other sources, to understand how exposures interact with each other and with our genetics across our lifetime. Many harmful exposures come directly from the built environment. Soon, I will be able to understand how air freshener chemicals, UV light, and gas stove oxidants interact with my age, genetics, hormones, and immune function. This knowledge will help me tune my environment for better health outcomes.
Environment Essential Reads
Those questions my childhood self was asking—what is happening in my brain, and how can we design better places—are now being prioritized at the highest levels of global policy. At the beginning of 2026, the Global Brain Economy Initiative was launched alongside the World Economic Forum. With a seat at the table, neuroarchitecture researchers are advocating for design as a “scalable public health strategy” to improve brain health. This global focus underscores the opportunity before us to shape the future through our built environments.
The future of brain health demands our active involvement, where designers and architects are frontline workers, and occupants are empowered participants who co-create spaces based on the health outcomes they afford. By embracing this opportunity, we don’t just create better buildings, we build better brains.
