bioRxiv, November 2025
Egzona Morina, PhD

Environmental noise is a pervasive stressor that impairs attention and increases arousal, whereas natural soundscapes are linked to restoration and improved well-being. This pilot study tested whether exposure to natural auditory environments can buffer the neural strain induced by noise. Twelve healthy adults completed five cognitive tasks (DotProbe, Stroop, GoNoGo, NBack, Visual Search) under three auditory conditions: Noise (urban traffic), Nature (ambient natural sounds), and Control (silence with earplugs), while 32-channel EEG recorded ongoing activity. Behavioral accuracy remained high across all tasks (89.9 to 99.5 %), differing only for the Nback, which improved under Nature relative to Noise and Control. In contrast, EEG revealed robust environment-dependent modulation. Mixed-effects models (FDR-corrected p < .05) identified 17 significant condition effects across frequency bands and cortical regions. Nature increased baseline-corrected δ, β, and γ power, elevated α/β ratios, and enhanced the Engagement Index in posterior networks, all signatures of relaxed yet alert cortical states. Noise, by contrast, amplified δ and θ activity and raised θ/α ratios in parieto-occipital regions, indicating higher cognitive load and compensatory effort. Reliability analyses confirmed moderate within-condition stability of EEG measures (mean ICC = 0.53 to 0.61) and higher consistency for ratio-based indices. Together, these findings reveal that natural soundscapes promote efficient, low-effort neural organization, whereas urban noise elicits energetically costly activation despite preserved behavioral performance. The results establish electrophysiological markers of environmental stress and restoration, supporting biophilic design strategies for healthier and more cognitively sustainable work environments.

SSRN, November 2025
Egzona Morina, PhD

Modern urban environments expose individuals to complex, multi-modal stressors, like ambient noise, air pollution, heat, and sensory overload, that systematically impair cognitive function and emotional regulation. While environmental neuroscience has established clear links between environmental context and neural activity, translating these insights into actionable, personalized health interventions has remained challenging. Here, we introduce Leef, a novel framework that bridges environmental sensing, predictive modeling, and cognitive resilience monitoring. Leef integrates continuous environmental data (air quality, noise levels, temperature) with physiological markers to predict cognitive strain and adaptive capacity in real time. Unlike traditional neuroimaging approaches that require laboratory settings, Leef operates on edge-computing platforms, enabling continuous, privacy-preserving brain health monitoring in naturalistic environments. Our framework is grounded in empirical findings from controlled EEG studies demonstrating that environmental context systematically modulates cortical dynamics, even when behavioral performance remains stable, a neural-behavioral dissociation that reveals hidden cognitive costs. By training predictive models on multimodal research data while deploying inference pipelines that require only environmental inputs, Leef democratizes access to evidence-based cognitive health insights. This whitepaper presents the conceptual architecture, ethical design principles, and societal applications of Leef, positioning it as the first scalable system to operationalize environmental neuroscience for adaptive well-being.

OSF, February 2025
Egzona Morina, PhD

Air pollution disproportionately harms low-income and minority communities, increasing mortality rates and widening health disparities. Climate change worsens these effects through rising CO₂ levels and extreme weather. Stronger CO₂ regulations, clean energy policies, and targeted interventions are essential to protect vulnerable populations and advance public health and environmental justice.

OSF, February 2025
Egzona Morina, PhD

The expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports poses a significant but often overlooked threat to brain health. Increased air pollution from fossil fuel combustion has been linked to higher risks of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism, and ADHD. These pollutants penetrate the brain, triggering inflammation and accelerating cognitive decline. The rising incidence of neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders is not only a public health concern but also a major economic burden, with projected healthcare costs reaching into the trillions.