Image: Egor Myznik

Places of Pause: Why Should We Build for Wakeful Rest

由专筑网清珂，小R编译

众所周知，一个场所的设计方式会影响人们对这个场所的喜爱程度。众多因素参与其中，例如，某地对于某人的特殊含义，情感连接的水平，以及我们称为“认知地图”的质量。

通过对环境在物理空间上的探索，位于大脑内侧颞叶的海马体内的“位置细胞”被激活，认知地图在我们大脑中得以构建。认知地图既是我们理解空间关系的基础，也是我们对环境的导航能力。

We now know that the way we design places can influence how attached people will get to them. Multiple factors take part in this. For example, the meaning of the place for a specific person, the level of emotional connection, and the quality of what we call “cognitive maps”
These maps are built in our mind through physical exploration of an environment and the activation of “place cells” within the hippocampal formation, located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain. Cognitive maps are both the basis for our understanding of spatial relationships and drive our ability to navigate our environment.


海马体位置细胞构建的认知地图 Image: Xinzhu Yu

在阿尔茨海默病患者中，神经变性导致编码和检索新信息能力的下降，空间记忆受损。在健康人群中，环境设计和外部线索也会支持或中断认知映射过程。

本文提出一项工具，运用在环境设计中可以帮助改善认知映射，从而增加人们对空间的喜爱和依恋。


构建认知地图——清醒休息

对啮齿动物的长期实验研究表明，在睡眠过程中，神经元会重现近期行走的路线，认知地图会得到加强。

对人类的近期研究也表明，睡眠中发生的神经生理节律在清醒休息时也同样存在，其特征是低频振荡的EEG节律的增加和α脑电波的减少。这种状态与海马体中记忆的恢复和巩固有关。


如果环境提供了可以暂停和休息的地方，空间记忆就会得到加强。这将促进认知地图的形成，从而增加人们对此环境的认同。

并且，大脑会利用“清醒休息”期间，对环境中的陌生路线或可能的捷径进行内部探索。换句话说，休息有助于形成更好的认知地图。

在一项虚拟现实研究中，参与者被要求探索一个新的环境。紧接着，一半的人在清醒状态下休息了10分钟，另一半做了一项无关的任务。休息组在随后的认知地图测试中表现出更高的准确性。

In people with Alzheimer’s disease, neurodegeneration leads to the decreased ability to encode and retrieve new information, resulting in spatial memory impairment. In healthy people, the cognitive mapping process can be supported or disrupted depending on the environment design and external cues.
In this article, I will suggest a tool that can be implemented in the design of a place to help improve cognitive mapping and so increase people’s place attachmen

Wakeful Rest Builds Cognitive Maps
Laboratory studies of rodents have long shown that cognitive maps are strengthened during sleep through the neuronal replay of recently traveled routes.Recent research in humans has shown that the same neurophysiological rhythms found in sleep are present during wakeful rest, marked by the increase of slow oscillatory EEG rhythm and decrease in alpha activity. This state correlates with improved reactivation and consolidation of memory in the hippocampus.
If an environment offers places that allow and encourage pause and rest, spatial memory can be strengthened. This will lead to the formation of better cognitive maps resulting in increased place attachment.
Furthermore, the brain uses periods of wakeful rest as an opportunity to internally explore never-before-experienced routes or possible shortcuts in the environment. In other terms, resting helps us form better cognitive maps.
In one virtual reality study, participants were asked to explore a new environment. Immediately afterward, half of the group spent ten minutes in wakeful rest and the other half completed an unrelated perceptual task. The group that rested showed improved accuracy on a subsequent cognitive map test.


Image: Gabriella Clare Marino

从现象学角度看，在这些虚拟现实研究中，当个体大脑可以休息放松，而不需要专注于特定任务或外部刺激时，记忆得到了改善。

这种思维游荡模式使大脑暂时离线，并激活了巩固记忆的神经机制。

另一方面，来自外部刺激的新信息会破坏新记忆的整合和巩固，如同上面虚拟现实实验中第二组所展示的一样。

Phenomenologically, memory was improved during these virtual reality studies when the individual’s mind was allowed to wander rather than focus on a specific task or external stimuli.
This mind-wandering is a form of taking the brain offline and allowing the neural mechanisms of memory consolidation to activate.
On the other hand, the integration and consolidation of new memories can be disrupted through the introduction of new information from external stimuli, as seen in the group that completed a perceptual task immediately following their exploration of the virtual environment.


Image: Fons Heijnsbroek

这项研究表明，我们应该在建成环境中有计划地设计休息场所。

这一原则尤其适用于喜欢熟悉环境的人群使用的空间，例如儿童和老人经常去的地方。

室内建筑空间和城市公共空间都需要修建休憩场所。正如研究所示，这些地方有利于大脑的休息放松，有利于空间学习并促进认知恢复。

如果建筑师和城市规划者能在设计中实施更多的休憩空间，建筑和城市会更让人难忘，也更容易吸引人回访。

This research suggests we should be designing places of pause strategically into our built environment. This is especially relevant in places where users would benefit most from familiarization, for example where children and the elderly visit.
The incorporation of places of pause should be considered in both indoor architectural spaces and outdoor urban areas. These places intentionally encourage mind-wandering which, as shown in these research studies, can benefit spatial learning and provide cognitive rejuvenation.
If architects and urban planners implement design techniques that encourage inattentive rest or pause, then their buildings and cities will become more memorable and easy to navigate on return.