piloer-ection
bristling of hairs due to involuntary contraction of hair follicles
Does someone with hairless skin experience music slightly differently in this case?
piloer-ection
bristling of hairs due to involuntary contraction of hair follicles
Does someone with hairless skin experience music slightly differently in this case?
olfactory cues
olfactory senses play key role
Would a postiive olfactory experience be rated higher than excellent results?
temperatures
temp impacts somatosensory perception --> diff temps result in diff valenced emotions
environment
somatosensory perception is influenced by our experiences and psyche
relieve stress
somatosensory stimulation can relieve stress
glabrous
free from hair
future studies could address the needfor species differentiation
maybe birdsong from species native to where one grew up have the most calming effect
Stress levels were the highest after the trafficsoundscape × restored forest treatment,
surprising, maybe the dissonance between traffic soundscape x forest was a stressor
randomly assigned
reduces bias
(1) the restored forest combined with the birdsong sound-scape would elicit the highest psychological well-being and per-ceived restorativeness; (2) the two treatments mixing location andsoundscape conditions (i.e., restored forest/traffic soundscape andgrey space/birdsong soundscape) would elicit intermediate levelsof psychological well-being and perceived restorativeness; and (3)the grey space combined with the traffic soundscape would elicitthe lowest psychological well-being and perceived restorativeness.
three main hypotheses
birdwatching is accessible
an easy, free way for almost anyone to reduce stress -> if there is a space for it
ornithology
a branch of zoology dealing with birds
marginalized groups
most at risk for mental health challenges -> potentially benefit the most from forest + birdsong?
accompanied by restoration of bird communities
found that audible presence of nature (birdsong) was more relaxing than restored forest alone
riparianforest
a forest or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water (stream, river, pond, lake, etc)
Accepted: 27 May 2026
released this year
All communications for this course will be managed through email.
preferred method of communication is email
If explicitly permitted, asdiscussed in class, students may be allowed limited use for final projects in editorial and initial researchprocesses.
AI use only with permission and citation
As such we will be using WooClap during class to include class polls andsingle-question quizzes during lecture periods to serve as a record of attendance
attendance recorded through WooClap website
Up to 440 points will be available from four written, in-person exams covering lecture and readingtopics will be assessed.
exams are in person and worth almost half of course points
This class will be entirely synchronous,with physical meetings for the whole course.
in-person class
This is an interdisciplinary course open to (all) majors, with a strongfocus on physiology, behavior, ecology, and evolution.
no major prerequisite