Effect of Gardening on Brain Activity

University of Florida

Status: Completed

Conditions: Quality of Life; Depression; Anxiety; Stress

Treatments: Other: Gardening; Procedure: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Behavioral: psychometric assessments

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02225847

IRB201400425

Details and patient eligibility

About

The objective of the research is to test the hypothesis that participating in group-based gardening activities alters brain network activation and function, and that such change occurring in the brain forms the neurobiological basis for much of the nonphysical activity portion of the therapeutic benefits of gardening and horticultural therapy. Assessment of the effects of the gardening activities on the experimental population will take two approaches, the first being the use of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to assess the regions of the brain that may become activated as a consequence of experiencing the cumulative gardening activities and associated stimuli. The allied approach will employ widely used and well-established self-reported assessment instruments that will capture information about the health and well-being that will then provide a psychometrically-based before and after physical and health summary of the participants in the control group and those engaged in the gardening activities.

Full description

The goal of this project is to better understand how interacting and working with plants in a group gardening activities program that takes place in a greenhouse effects patterns of brain activity and overall health and well-being. There has been essentially no assessment of the effects of gardening or engaging in gardening activities on brain activity using functional MRI (fMRI) approaches. This study will employ visual stimuli to assess the effects of the gardening activities treatment on Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) responses as revealed by fMRI in study subjects in a comparison of responses before and after engaging in the gardening intervention program.

Specifically this study seeks to determine whether engaging in gardening activities taking place in a greenhouse can influence brain activity and function, and result in changes in overall quality of life status of subjects in a wellness population.

The total study population (N = 23) will consist of 11 healthy women in the control group, and 12 healthy women in the treatment group. There will be fMRI brain scans and psychometric pre- and post-intervention assessments administered to the study subjects. The fMRI and psychometric assessments will be administered within 10 days prior to the start of the intervention, and within 10 days following the completion of the treatment intervention. The control group will continue with normal daily life over a seven to eight week interval, and receive no other intervention. The treatment group will be divided into two groups of six women each that will receive the gardening intervention on different days of the week. The participants in the treatment group will receive an experimental intervention consisting of 12 gardening sessions, each approximately 60 minutes in duration over a six week treatment period. Each gardening session will take place at the same time of day twice each week, and follow a standardized programming sequence to ensure equivalency of intervention across all gardening sessions. Ambient environmental conditions in the greenhouse during the gardening sessions will be monitored and recorded. The gardening activities will emphasize growing plants from seeds, plant propagation techniques, transplanting, and plant-mediated taste, visual, olfactory and touch sensory stimulation. All gardening sessions will begin with a short educational module introducing the plants and gardening activities taking place during each session. In addition to the pre- and post-intervention assessments, psychometric assessments will be administered for depression and mood states at specific time points during the gardening activities to the treatment group to evaluate any changes over time resulting from the intervention.

Enrollment: 24 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 26 to 49 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Premenopausal women
• 26 - 49 years of age
• Not pregnant
• Non-gardener
• Non-smoker
• Good Health
• Able to participate in all aspects of the study, including working with plants.

Exclusion criteria

• Uncomfortable in close spaces (claustrophobia)
• Allergies to plants
• Allergies to plant parts like pollen
• Allergies to plant-based foods
• No additions to alcohol or to recreational drugs or prescription medications
• Not suffering from recurring pain, and
• No diseases, disorders or disabilities that affect daily life.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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24 participants in 2 patient groups

Control

Active Comparator group

Description:

Members of this group will continue with their daily life activities and will not receive gardening intervention. The control group will be given a set of psychometric assessments for health and quality of life evaluations and undergo a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) brain scan, followed by a second round of psychometric assessments and a fMRI brain scan administered seven to eight weeks after the initial baseline psychometric assessments and fMRI brain scan.

Treatment:

Behavioral: psychometric assessments

Procedure: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Gardening

Experimental group

Description:

Members of this group will be given a set of psychometric assessments for health and quality of life evaluations and a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) brain scan prior to receiving the gardening activities intervention. The gardening intervention will consist of twice weekly group sessions lasting 60 minutes in duration that will take place in a greenhouse. The duration of the experimental intervention will be six weeks for a total of 12 individual gardening activity sessions. Following the completion of the gardening intervention, a second round of psychometric assessments and a fMRI brain scan will be administered seven to eight weeks after the initial baseline psychometric assessments and fMRI brain scan.

Treatment:

Other: Gardening

Behavioral: psychometric assessments

Procedure: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)