By David Suzuki
with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Public Engagement
Specialist Aryne Sheppard.
For the most
part, our brains didn’t evolve in cities. But in a few decades, almost 70 per
cent of the world’s people will live in urban environments. Despite the
prosperity we associate with cities, urbanization presents a major health
challenge. Cities, with their accelerated pace of life, can be stressful. The
results are seen in the brains and behaviour of those raised in cities or
currently living in one.
On the upside,
city dwellers are on average wealthier and receive better health care,
nutrition and sanitation than rural residents. On the downside, they experience
an increased risk of chronic disease, a more demanding and stressful social
environment and greater levels of inequity. In fact, city dwellers have a 21
per cent greater risk for anxiety disorders and a 39 per cent increased
likelihood of mood disorders.
A study published in Nature links city living with sensitivity
to social stress. MRI scans show greater exposure to urban environments can
increase activity in the amygdala, a brain structure involved in emotions such
as fear and the release of stress-related hormones. According to the study, the
amygdala “has been strongly implicated in anxiety disorders, depression, and
other behaviours that are increased in cities, such as violence.”
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