Temporal differentiation of biophilic elements and architectural forms in classroom built environments: evidence from mass-univariate ERP analyses

Purpose Biophilic design has been proposed as a cognitively supportive strategy in educational built environments (BEs); however, its neural mechanisms remain understudied. This study examined event-related potentials (ERPs), providing robust sub-second temporal cognitive dissociation to investigate whether biophilic intensity, architectural form and gender modulate electrophysiological responses during the perception of BEs. Design/methodology/approach Sixty-three participants underwent 64-channel EEG recording, yielding 1-second ERP-epochs, during a three-phase familiarized novelty-minimized passive viewing task, time-locked to 120 Unity-rendered images of four classroom BEs: Conventional (CWT), unconventional (UWT) and graded-biophilic classrooms at low (30%; U30) and high (80%; U80) levels. Stimuli systematically varied spatial configuration, biophilic content, lighting and view. Robust mass-univariate analyses were applied to stimulus-locked ERPs. Post-hoc contrasts collapsed environments into Green (U30+U80) and Non-Green (CWT + UWT) categories, with additional exploratory between-subjects gender analyses. Findings Early P1 effects revealed a hierarchy of perceptual processing ease (CWT > U80 ≳ U30 > UWT), suggesting differential perceptual fluency across classroom configurations. P2 enhancement selectively indexed biophilia, reflecting early perceptual differentiation of green classrooms. Late LPP modulations showed that biophilic content – even at low levels – was possibly linked to a more positive appraisal. Gender effects emerged selectively in biophilic contrasts, with females showing earlier categorical sensitivity and more sustained evaluative engagement. Originality/value The study provides a neurochronometric account demonstrating that architectural form and biophilic content are processed differentially yet interactively. By linking specific BE features to temporal markers, the findings offer converging ERP evidence to inform cognitively supportive academic BE design.