A new study of the physical effects of nature visits on the brain suggests that a walk in the park can positively alter the functioning of the brain by calming the mind.
Many of us now live in cities and spend much less time in green, natural areas than a few generations ago. According to studies, people living in cities are also more likely to have mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression.
However, it was not known exactly how visiting a park or a green area could change the mood. Does experiencing nature really change our brains in ways that affect our emotional health?
In response caller Stanford University Gregory Bratman, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ' t do walk to the published research, the impact on people's brooding thinking disposition was decided to take under the spotlight.
STOP BROODING
The brooding state of thinking, known as morbid rumination among experts , is a state of mind that many of us are familiar with; We can't stop thinking about the bad things in our lives. This nuisance, which recurs like a broken plaque, is not healthy or helpful. It can be a precursor to depression and is apparently much more prevalent among urban dwellers than those living outside the city.
On the other hand, this state of mind is also heavily associated with the increase in activity in the part of the brain called the subgenual prefrontal cortex.
Bratman, who thinks that if researchers could track activity in this part of the brain before and after people visited nature, they could obtain more data on the effects of nature on the human mind, Bratman collected 38 healthy adults and urban dwellers and a questionnaire to measure their normal morbid rumination levels. asked them to fill.
Brain activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex of each participant was also checked using scans that could monitor blood flow to the brain. Increased blood flow to parts of the brain usually indicates an increase in activity in those areas.
WALKING DOWN THE TREE-LINED ROAD GETS LESS TROUBLE
The researchers randomly divided the volunteers into two groups, asking one group to walk for 90 minutes in the green and quiet area of the Stanford campus, and the other group along the noisy, busy, multi-lane highway in Palo Alto. Companions or music were not allowed.
Immediately after finishing their walk, the participants returning to the lab repeated both the questionnaire and the brain scan.
As expected, walking alone on the highway did not calm people's minds. Blood flow to their subgenual prefrontal cortex was still intense and their mood was unchanged.