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. 2015 Jun 29;112(28):8567–8572. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1510459112

Table S1.

Nonhypothesized regions from whole-brain analysis showing time-by-environment interactions

Talairach coordinates
Region x y z Voxels F P
Left middle occipital gyrus −36 −78 1 12,181 44.17 <0.0001
Right supramarginal gyrus 55 −45 27 7,264 30.78 <0.0001
Right superior temporal gyrus 55 13 −9 3,911 14.12 <0.001
Right medial frontal gyrus 5 5 50 3,227 18.49 <0.001
Right posterior cingulate 2 −52 22 1,729 19.93 <0.001

Coordinates refer to the location of peak activity in Talairach space; voxels are in 1-mm3 units and refer to the size of the cluster in which the interaction of time-by-environment was significant, P < 0.05, FWE corrected; F refers to the F-statistic of the interaction effect, with the corresponding P value. As we did not conduct behavioral assessments for further investigating effects in these regions of the brain, the behaviors and processes for which these activations are neural correlates remain a matter of speculation. Taken as a whole, however, the overall pattern of a decrease in activity in these areas in the nature vs. urban experience support our hypothesis. Although it is unclear why we would observe a difference in visual processing (occipital gyrus), differences in activation of other areas support the idea that nature experience results in a decrease in inner mentation. The supramarginal gyrus has been shown to be involved in sensory processing and social cognition, especially as it relates to perspective taking and perceptions regarding emotions (5355). The superior temporal gyrus has been associated with auditory and language processing of self-directed, internal speech, and social cognition (56, 57). Differences between groups in perfusion to the medial frontal gyrus may result from a variety of causes, including changes in executive functioning, such as in formulating plans and cognitive models of the world (58). The observed interaction in the posterior cingulate is of most relevance to our primary findings, as this area of the brain has been associated with autobiographical processing (59).