Fractals and stress: what the studies actually found
What a fractal is
A fractal has detail at every scale: zoom in and you find smaller copies of the whole, as in the Sierpiński triangle of the chaos game. Coastlines, ferns, clouds and trees are fractal-like, and so are some paintings.
The fractal dimension measures how much a shape fills the space: a line has 1, a filled square 2, and the Sierpiński triangle about 1.585, in between.
The studies
The physicist Richard Taylor reported in 2006 preliminary research suggesting that fractals of a middle level of complexity affect the physiological state of the people looking at them, and proposed using such fractals in art and architecture to reduce stress.
In 2008 Caroline Hagerhall, Taylor and colleagues recorded the EEG of people viewing fractal silhouettes of different dimensions and found measurable differences in brain activity between them.
How far it goes
These are small, early studies, and they show that fractals change what can be measured in the body and brain, not that looking at them treats stress. Many popular articles say more than the studies do.
If fractals please you, enjoy them for that. If you are under real stress, a film is no replacement for help from a doctor or a psychologist.
See a fractal grow from chance →