Green Is Not the Same as Green: Differentiating Between the Association of Trees and Open Green Spaces With Children’s Brain Structure in the Netherlands

Abstract

There is accumulating evidence for positive effects of green spaces on mental and brain health. Here we investigated whether differentiating the types of green spaces may be relevant. On longitudinal data of children (N = 95) from the Netherlands, we quantified the link between green space exposure at home from birth onwards and MRI brain structure at 12.5 years. We differentiated between green space resulting from trees versus open green spaces and also associated visibility of sky (sky view factor) with brain structure (200 m buffer around home address). We observed a positive association between grey matter volume in different prefrontal clusters and green open space coverage as well as sky view, but a negative association within prefrontal clusters for tree cover density. Most importantly, in the medial prefrontal cortex, the only region in which all three analyses overlapped, the visibility of sky was the most important predictor. Our findings advance knowledge on health-promoting, evidence-based urban planning.