Do Cities And Suburban Areas Hold Emotional Content?

• Simone Lunn, Neuroscience, University of Delaware

• Dayan Knox, Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware

In the 20th century, US cities emerged as major centers of development, yet their growth rates diverged from predictions based on previous data trends. Lower-than-expected urban densities compared to other countries might be influenced by the media’s negative portrayal of cities potentially inducing fear. This study investigates whether images of urban and suburban areas evoke different emotional responses. Using an fMRI machine, participants viewed randomly presented images of cities and suburbs and reported their emotional experiences. Initial findings from a previously conducted study revealed that participants rated urban images more negatively and suburban images as more arousing. fMRI data indicated increased activity in emotional regulatory regions among those who reported no emotional response. This current study seeks to enhance participant diversity, expand the image set, and further explore the emotional processes involved in image viewing. This research is supported by the Frontiers Interdisciplinary Research Award and INBRE.