A New Discourse in Architecture Based on Neuro- Psychology

Since the 1980s, health and life expectancy have been recognised as national development indicators, with health being defined in a broad sense including aspects relating to interactions with the environment. Despite this growing attitude, architects and planners still neglect mental needs od users. The lack of environments responsive to neuro-psychological needs, particularly in residential and healthcare sectors has resulted in diminished levels of attention to environmental wellbeing. Among the aims of the present paper are achieving qualitative improvement of living spaces and increasing efficiency and responsiveness of physical environments to users’ mental needs using neuroscience. The research method is descriptive-analytic based on a review study and inductive qualitative content analysis. The findings are based on three concepts: ‘architectural experience; intrinsic selfconsciousness’, ‘sensory-based architecture, cognitive and emotional neuropsychiatric responsiveness’, and ‘multi-sensorial architecture as a treatment’. The new paradigm of neuropsychological architecture, therefore, will transform architecture. Neuro-centric architecture in conjunction with neuroscience, and behavioural and emotional sciences will play a key role to respond to psychological needs, and development of environmental health, in defining the concept of responsive environment and human-centric, health-centric architecture in response to mental needs in order to develop environmental health.