Johanna Prugger

Environmental psychology has extensively documented the restorative effects of nature: the recovery of cognitive resources and emotional well-being following stress or fatigue. Yet, the field may have overlooked instorative effects, where nature enhances functioning from a neutral baseline without prior depletion. We reviewed 54 studies (61 experiments, 19962024) investigating nature versus urban exposure effects on cognition, affect, and perceived restoration. Studies were categorized as explicit stressor (deliberate pre-exposure stress induction), implicit stressor (pre-exposure assessments likely inducing fatigue), or instorative (no prior stressor/assessment). Using an iterative, data-driven approach inspired by Grounded Theory, we analyzed study characteristics, exposure types, and the proportion reporting beneficial effects. Restorative studies vastly outnumbered instorative studies (45 vs. 8), revealing substantial research bias. Despite limited representation, instorative studies demonstrated high success rates: all cognition studies reported positive effects, while two-thirds examining affect showed benefits. Explicit stressor studies showed stronger effects than implicit stressor studies, suggesting dose-response relationships. Differentiating between instorative and restorative effects remains difficult, as no validated tools specifically assess instoration. The widely used Perceived Restorativeness Scale primarily measures general environmental benefits, conflating restoration and instoration. Studies predominantly employed young, Western samples and brief laboratory exposures, limiting ecological validity. The capacity of nature to enhance, rather than merely restore, functioning is underexplored. Future research should investigate instorative effects using ecologically valid paradigms with neutral baselines, refined theoretical models, standardized terminology, and appropriate questionnaires that distinguish between instorative and restorative effects.

Urbanization has raised urgent questions about how environmental contexts shape mental and physical health. This review synthesizes findings from 500 studies (1982–2023) on mental health, physical health, brain function, cognition, personality, and epigenetics in urban versus rural settings. In the Global North, urban living is linked to increased risks for mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia, whereas rural living is often associated with better quality of life. In the Global South, urban environments may confer mental health benefits, likely due to improved healthcare and economic opportunities. Urban populations, mostly in the North, show higher rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease, while rural groups face greater mortality risks linked to healthcare disparities. Neuroimaging studies suggest urban upbringing alters stress-related brain circuits. However, causal inferences are limited by cross-sectional designs, inconsistent definitions of “urban” and “rural,” and overrepresentation of Global North populations. Improved classification and global representation are needed to inform equitable and effective health policy.

The Open Data initiative Altered States Database (ASDB) collects psychometric questionnaire data on the subjective experiences of pharmacologically and non-pharmacologically induced altered states of consciousness. The ASDB is updated annually and can be utilized by both researchers and non-scientists to access information or conduct further analyses. The current update adds data published in the year 2025, sourced from a systematic literature review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 578 items were screened, resulting in 32 included journal articles, of which nineteen report on the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30), eighteen on the 11-Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale (11-ASC), fourteen on the 5D-ASC, two on the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), and one on the Hallucinogen Rating Scale (HRS). In total, the ASDB now encompasses data from 36 pharmacological and 18 non‑pharmacological consciousness modifying techniques (CMT) (plus control substances/techniques), incorporating 289 journal articles and 836 single datasets from 29.287 participants across datasets. The ASDB can be accessed on https://asdb.info and data tables can be downloaded from Open Science Framework (OSF; https://osf.io/8mbru).

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent classic serotonergic psychedelic, which facilitates a variety of altered states of consciousness. Here we present the first meta-analysis establishing dose-response relationship estimates of the altered states of consciousness induced by LSD. Data extracted from articles identified by a systematic literature review following PRISMA guidelines were obtained from the Altered States Database. The psychometric data comprised ratings of subjective effects from standardized and validated questionnaires: the Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale (5D-ASC, 11-ASC) and the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). We performed meta-regression analyses using restricted cubic splines for data from studies with LSD doses of up to 200 μg base. Most scales revealed a sigmoid-like increase of effects, with a plateauing at around 100 μg. The most strongly modulated factors referred to changes in perception and illusory imagination, followed by positively experienced ego-dissolution, while only small effects were found for Anxiety and Dread of Ego Dissolution. The considerable variability observed in most factors and scales points to the role of non-pharmacological factors in shaping subjective experiences. The established dose-response relationships may be used as general references for future experimental and clinical research on LSD to compare observed with expected subjective effects and to elucidate phenomenological differences between psychedelics.

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent classic serotonergic psychedelic, which facilitates a variety of altered states of consciousness. Here we present the first meta-analysis establishing dose-response relationship estimates of the altered experience induced by LSD. Data extracted from articles identified by a systematic literature review following PRISMA guidelines were obtained from the Altered States Database. The psychometric data comprised ratings of subjective effects from standardized and validated questionnaires: the Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale (5D-ASC, 11-ASC) and the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). We performed meta-regression analyses using restricted cubic splines for data from studies with LSD doses of up to 200 μg base. Most scales revealed a sigmoid-like increase of effects with a plateauing at around 100 μg. The most strongly modulated factors referred to changes in perception and illusory imagination, followed by positively experienced ego-dissolution, while only small effects were found for Anxiety and Dread of Ego Dissolution . The partly observed considerable variability of effects points to the importance of non-pharmacological effects on subjective experiences. The established dose-response relationships may be used as general references for future experimental and clinical research on LSD to relate observed with expected subjective effects and to elucidate phenomenological differences between psychedelics.