Does your house take care of your brain?

The poet Khalil Gibran said that the house is our wider body, which grows under the sun and sleeps in the calm of the night. That the home is nothing but an extension of our body is also explained by neuroarchitecture, a discipline in full expansion that shows that the light we receive, the sounds that surround us, and the visual order and textures of a room directly impact our emotions, rest, and health.

All this is discussed by an architect and reference in the so-called neuroscience of rest, Ana Mombiedro, who has published Spaces that care for your brain (Zenith, 2026). The book helps to understand how the body interprets the environment where it lives and what small changes can transform your home into a space that also takes care of you and is a physical, mental, and emotional refuge.

For Mombiedro, as long as a house complies with current regulations, it has the potential for small adjustments to be made to transform it into what she calls an “enriched home.” It is a dwelling in which aspects such as orientation, air ventilation, order, spaces for socialization and seclusion, and proximity to nature, among others, are taken into account.

“A home must be easy to clean and tidy up, and must favor the putting into practice of your daily routines,” explains the architect. In this way, each space must have a meaning for our day-to-day life, even regarding personal objects.

Now, what should this home be like? It depends on each person, but also on the vital moment they are in. According to Mombiedro, we do not always have the same needs: sometimes we feel like socializing and at other times we need to be alone and retreat. That is why she considers it important that the house offers us both possibilities.

Versatile spaces

The specialist in sleep neuroscience also advocates for recovering rituals that are being lost and that allow us to share time with others, such as inviting people to dinner at home and gathering the family around the table on Sundays. "It is part of our socio-emotional health," she points out. Each culture, moreover, has its own gathering spaces. In Finland, for example, the sauna can have this socializing function. The point is that the home should allow us to maintain these bonds, without forgetting the need to have a corner for withdrawal.

And it does not necessarily have to be the bedroom, nor does there need to be many square meters available. It is enough to have a space to put an armchair or another comfortable element where you can retreat. According to Mombiedro, it is possible to find spaces like this even in small apartments. "With simple resources such as the use of mirrors, taking advantage of windows with views to the outside, and a well-thought-out arrangement of furniture, one can find the way to create this space so necessary for well-being," the architect asserts.

Another fundamental element is lighting. We often don't give it enough importance, but our body functions by following circadian rhythms, which help us to position ourselves in the day and night cycle. "The healthiest thing would be to wake up with the light of dawn, just as going to sleep with the light of dusk," she explains. It is, ultimately, about accompanying the body's natural rhythms from home as well.

Neuroarchitecture also insists on the importance of living close to nature. But what happens if we live in the middle of the city and don't have a forest or a garden within reach? In these cases, Mombiedro proposes taking advantage of windows to place plants and incorporating vegetation into interior spaces. "There are plants that are very easy to care for, and some can grow permanently in water, without the need for soil," she remarks.

Although the benefits of contact with nature have been a subject of study for decades, you don't need to have real plants to incorporate them at home. "It can also be achieved through wallpaper with plant motifs or other decorative elements that evoke natural shapes," she continues. Mombiedro especially recommends irregular designs that remind us of nature, instead of geometric patterns.

Ultimately, it is not about having a perfect house or making major renovations, but about becoming aware of how the space where we live affects us and what small modifications can help us feel better. And, if we don't know where to start, Mombiedro is clear about it: "Consult architects, as they are the ones who know, because a solution can always be found for every case," he concludes.