The research carried out by the University of Bari in Italy could help vindicate hospitals who are accused of wasting money on art and decor as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients overcome discomfort and pain.

A team headed by Professor Marina de Tommaso at the Neurophysiopathology Pain Unit asked a group of men and women to pick the 20 paintings they considered most ugly and most beautiful from a selection of 300 works by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli.

They were then asked to contemplate either the beautiful paintings, or the ugly painting, or a blank panel while the team zapped a short laser pulse at their hand, creating a sensation as if they had been pricked by a pin.

The subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were viewing the beautiful paintings, compared with when contemplating the ugly paintings or the blank panel.

Electrodes measuring the brain's electrical activity also confirmed a reduced response to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings.

While distractions, such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital patients, Prof de Tommaso says this is the first result to show that beauty plays a part.

The findings, reported in New Scientist, also go a long way to show that beautiful surroundings could aid the healing process.

"Hospitals have been designed to be functional, but we think that their aesthetic aspects should be taken into account too," said the neurologist.

"Beauty obviously offers a distraction that ugly paintings do not. But at least there is no suggestion that ugly surroundings make the pain worse. "

"I think these results show that more research is needed into the how a beautiful environment can alleviate suffering."

Pictures they liked included Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Botticellis Birth of Venus. Pictures they found ugly included works by Pablo Picasso, the Italian 20th century artist Anonio Bueno and Columbian Fernando Botero.

"These people were not art experts so some of the pictures they found ugly would be considered masterpieces by the art world," said Prof de Tommaso.

意大利巴里大学日前开展的一项研究表明，舒适愉悦的环境有助于减轻病人的痛苦。这一发现有力驳斥了认为医院不应该把钱浪费在艺术品装饰上的说法。

该研究由巴里大学“病理生理学病痛研究中心”的马莲娜•德•托马索教授领导的研究小组开展。研究人员让一组研究对象从达•芬奇和桑德罗•波提切利等著名画家的300幅画作中选出20幅他们认为最美丽或最难看的作品。

之后，研究人员让他们注视着这些最美丽或最难看的画作，或者一个空白的画板，而此时研究人员则用短激光脉冲照射他们的手，让他们有种刺痛感。

结果发现，与注视着难看的画作或空白画板的人相比，看着美丽画作的人疼痛感减少了三分之一。

此外，脑电波检测结果也表明，看着美丽画作的人对疼痛的反应会减慢。

众所周知，采用分散注意力的方法可以减轻病人的痛苦，比如音乐，而托马索教授称，这项研究首次证实了美丽的画面也具有同样功效。

此外，这项在《新科学家》上发表的研究进一步证实：优美的外界环境有助于缓解病痛。

这位神经学专家称：“医院的设计主要以功能性为主，但我们认为也要考虑美观这一因素。”

“很显然，美丽的画作能够分散病人的注意力，而难看的作品则不具备这一功效，不过现在还没有研究表明丑陋的外界环境会加重病人的痛苦。

“这些发现表明我们还需开展更多的研究，来探究美丽的环境是如何减轻病痛的。”

受访者最喜爱的画作包括：文森特•凡高的《星夜》和波特切利的《维纳斯的诞生》，而他们认为难看的画作则出自保罗•毕加索、20世纪意大利画家阿诺尼奥•布尔诺和哥伦比亚画家费尔南多•布特罗之手。

托马索教授说：“这些人不是艺术家，所以一些他们认为难看的作品其实都是世界名作。”