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In spite of the mind-expanding perks of city life, urban living is known to increase the chances of developing mental disorders such as schizophrenia. This link could be caused by a heightened response in the brain to social stress, according to a study published in Nature in June. Researchers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany studied brain scans of healthy students as they took a mathematics test under a barrage of disapproving feedback from the experimenter. This stressful situation revealed higher activity in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex—regions involved in regulating emotions and stress—in urban students as compared with rural ones, with small-town folk falling in between. The difference may reflect city dwellers’ extra sensitivity to social stress, which could contribute to mental illness in people so predisposed by their genes.
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Add CommentStudents are not good test subjects. The study should use long term residents.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisStudents are often not from their college location. It is easier to adapt the first few years to a 'less' urban setting. I speak from experience having done undergraduate and graduate studies in one of each.
Long term residents are quite fine with city life. Unlike a student they are not 'lost' or overwhelmed by it. In fact they are often less stressed as the anonymity allows less need to put up with social pressure. Small town living seems fine until you actually live in one...it can be soap-operish hell.
( Why the photo of NYC cabs? 99.8% of urban dwellers don't live in downtown NYC but rather in more sane cities.)
Modern cities were organized upon military barrack model of 19th century. The idea was to bring people in packs and move them around from a cental point. This model is against human (and even animal) nature. The better model should be like coral reefs, where people can can come together whenever they want and can disappear as well. There should be nieches in different sizes for different purposes.
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