You are going to hear more and more about Neuroarchitecture. As the “hard sciences” open up to the “soft science” or “trade” of architecture, you are going to hear a lot more about Neuroarchitecture. As a new field of scientific inquiry and practice emerges, we are finding the intersectional language of neuroscience and architecture. So let me be so bold as to offer a new term. Neurosensory-Integrated Design brings the universal science of sensory psychophysics to the personal neuro-phenominological sphere. This practice exists in the world of how we integrate the multimodal experience of architectural design into our bodies. It exists in the realm of how our nervous systems register and organize the experience of the outside-of-us space on the inside-of-us space.
How we respond, voluntarily or involuntarily, to a design space on the inside-of-us, in turn, shapes how we then impact the design space, including other people in it. Our integration of a space has the power to shape our heartbeat and breath, the pressure our blood vessels exert, the tone our muscles hold, how fluidly we move, our sleep and wake states, our emotional states, how we relate to ourselves and others, as well as our mental focus and learning.
Design space has the power to shape performance in infinite domains of human functioning. Design space also has the power to shape our very identity. We are symbolic beings who make meaning of our surroundings. Just as our collective unconscious shapes our involuntary responses to design spaces, the design spaces we indwell today may very well have the power to influence the collective unconscious of our far descendants. The philosopher poet in me would say that as we inhabit a space, it inhabits us. The psychologist in me would say that the inside-of-us space of neurological influence and the outside-of-us space of neurological influence are in a dance of reciprocity. I like to call that dance the Neurosphere.
Krista Swanson, PhD
Founder and CEO, NeuroArchitecture + Design
We consult with you and your
Interior Architect and Designer
Residential Architect
Landscape Architect
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So you may be your best you in wellness, learning, performance, and connection in relationships.
Our brain function is not limited to our heads. So, brain health involves the entire body. Our brain function is not limited to our bodies. So, brain health involves our relationships and our environments, natural and built.
-Dr. Krista Swanson
Dr. Krista Swanson: Visionary
As seen in The Scout Guide Aspen with Photographer: Natalia Snider, @nataliasniderphotog
Dr. Krista Swanson is a distinguished, licensed clinical psychologist, developmental psychologist, and pediatric psychologist with over three decades of neuroscience-driven professional experience and four decades of scholarship in supporting human relational, emotional, physical, and cognitive development from conception through adulthood. A proud alumna of Columbia University, Dr. Swanson's academic and professional journey in the interdisciplinary neurosciences has been marked by continuous innovation.
Dr. Swanson's expertise spans multiple domains of neurodevelopment, with a particular focus on optimizing executive skills functioning, autonomic nervous system functioning and interpersonal nervous systems functioning. These, combined, form the neuroscientific bedrock of what we at NSA call NeuroCognitive Excellence.
Trained by luminaries in the field such as Bessel van der Kolk MD, Bruce Perry MD, Pat Ogden MD, Mary Main, PhD, Alan Sroufe, PhD, Connie Lillas, PhD, RN, and Stanley Greenspan, MD, Dr. Swanson stands alongside respected figures and friends such as, Dan Siegel MD and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD in advancing our understanding of whole-brain wellness and peak performance. Her work seamlessly bridges the gap between complex neuroscientific concepts and practical, life-changing interventions.
Dr. Swanson has pioneered practical methods for integrating neuroscience into neurological optimization over the lifespan. Her work in Interpersonal Neurophysiology, from the late 90’s on, has earned her international recognition, invited publications in peer-reviewed journals and leading to advisory roles at the United Nations. In many countries, she contributed to national policy, health protocols and medical school curriculum development. Dr. Swanson's approach is deeply rooted in the latest scientific research.
NeuroSphere Academy represents the culmination of Dr. Swanson's lifelong commitment to enhancing human potential through neuroscience. Born out of her interdisciplinary clinical practice and brain trust in Aspen and Los Angeles, the Academy stands at the intersection of rigorous neuroscience and practical education.
Dr. Briana Pollard
Sensory Integration Consultant……... As an adult, child, infant-family occupational therapist, Dr. Pollard provides cutting-edge, neurosensory-neuromotor-neuromotor analysis and treatment that guide your interdisciplinary care. Dr. Pollard is on faculty at Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles where she leads in providing game-changing, collaborative mental health - physical health services. She joins us via telehealth in Aspen and Basalt.