Do the places and spaces around us affect our happiness and health? Dr. Esther Sternberg will show how our physical environment, experienced through each of the senses, can affect emotions and trigger the brain’s stress or relaxation responses. These in turn explain how place and space around can either help healing or potentially harm health. Dr. Sternberg will review the many connections between the brain and the immune system, which underlie these effects. Dr. Sternberg’s research enables individuals to structure their environment and activities to best buffer the negative effects of stress, helps healthcare providers judge how and when to apply mind-body therapies, and assists healthcare and hospital designers in creating spaces that facilitate healing. These principles also apply to the effects of the larger world on health, including urban design, which are both good for the environment and help sustain health.
