During my usual commute in Singapore MRT, when the train is above-ground, I enjoy looking around. Gaze at buildings pass by, housing blocks being crossed, cars passing by on the roads, people waiting at signals for green man. Many more. Gave a sense of openness to the mind, relief from closed office spaces, various thoughts flash across. Overall a refreshed soul 😊
Recently this scene has changed, even above ground there has been barriers erected on both sides of the tracks. The barriers cover almost three quarter off the vision through the train. The name for it goes as NOISE BARRIER. As the name would suggest it is probably a way in reducing the noise levels to surrounding housing blocks along the tracks. Fair move. But this is adding on to a subtle occurrence which over time might have undesired consequence to commuters, like me.
In most urban cities the dwelling spaces have reduced to almost 60~80sq.m. This is comparatively 50% reduction to the house sizes 20 to 30years ago. Closed spaces create a constricted feeling which causes a sense of claustrophobic effect to the brain. Chokes one from seeing far, that has side effect in limiting cognitive ability. When continuously looking into closed spaces, over time the brain is unable to assimilate things beyond certain level. Well in information age, the question would be - are these scientifically possible outcomes. As per geneticist Fred Gage "Changes in the environment change the brain, and therefore they change our behavior." There seems truth behind the impact. But why does this happen?
Placing one in constricted areas over time causes compression to the gray matter of brain. The gray matter of brain is responsible for things like memory, muscle control and sensory perception. Brain adapts based on experiences. Continual exposure has impact on brain elasticity, also known as neuroplasticity. The plasticity, which is the change in gray matter, directly related to spatial features. However, the impacts by spatial feature do not impact humans equally, but they do definitely shape our behavior. Some effects could be:
- Cognitive disorders,
- Closed thought process,
- Irritability,
- Short temperament,
- Throw tantrums,
- Sense of limited independence,
- Diminished creativity.
With current urban living conditions, to avoid closed spaces is impossible. However, the impact they cause can be well reduced by allowing ourselves to be with nature as much as possible. This approach is similar to my earlier blog mental wellbeing through living spaces in which I shared how to increase positivity at homes and our lives.
Having said all off above, while I try to convince myself stating that the coping mechanism could be off some help, I still miss my views during train rides 😔
But there is double decker buses. Read this blog written few years back about the euphoric feeling one gets while riding on double deck buses.
Photos from: 8 Interesting Facts About Singapore's MRT That You Wouldn't Know – ExplorerSG and Relief from train noise, but new problem arises, Singapore News - AsiaOne