{
  "id": 16965419,
  "title": "Beautiful landscapes may briefly put the brakes on the brain’s movement system",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/beautiful-landscapes-may-briefly-put-the-brakes-on-the-brains",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-28T22:00:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/beautiful-landscapes-may-briefly-put-the-brakes-on-the-brains-movement-system/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience reveals that beautiful landscapes may cause a temporary slowdown in the brain's movement preparation system. By analyzing electrical signals from the scalp while volunteers viewed nature scenes, researchers discovered that images participants liked more were associated with weaker movement-preparation signals and increased brain activity linked to focused visual engagement. The study suggests that experiencing beauty might temporarily redirect brain resources away from physical action, allowing for a more thorough processing of sensory information. Researchers presented 180 black-and-white photographs of natural landscapes to 30 right-handed young adults, asking them to rate their appreciation of each image on a scale of 1 to 9. Participants were instructed to press a button as quickly as possible after each photograph faded, and reaction times were recorded for both highly and poorly rated landscapes. The results showed that participants took an average of 297 milliseconds to react after viewing the most appreciated landscapes, compared to 288 milliseconds for the least appreciated images—a 9-millisecond increase, or roughly a 3.1 percent slowdown in reaction time.",
  "summary": "Beauty has long been described as something that makes us pause and look. Neuroscientists in Italy tested that idea by recording brain activity while people viewed nature photos, and found signs that liked images dampened movement preparation.",
  "key_points": [
    "Beautiful landscapes may slow brain's movement preparation system temporarily",
    "Study found weaker signals and more visual-focused brain activity",
    "Participants took 9 milliseconds longer to react to most appreciated images"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}