Human history unfolded in idyllic settings with vast savannas, forested river valleys and ancestors who lived there for many millions of years.
Cities, on the other hand, are a new type of habitat that can often be detrimental to our mental health despite all its many benefits. Studies have shown that urban environments are associated with anxiety. Depression, and other Mental health issuesIncludes schizophrenia.
Research also points to a solution. Visit wildernessEven briefly, it is often associated with a wide range of Mental and physical health benefitsThis includes lower blood pressure, less anxiety and depression, improved mood and focus, better memory and faster healing.
Although many studies support this correlation, there is still much to be learned. Can just Walking through a forestThese positive brain changes can really be triggered? If so, how do you go about it?
One place you can look for clues is in the amygdala. This small structure at the center of your brain is involved in stress processing and emotional learning.
Research suggests that the amygdala may be responsible for this. Less activatedWhile stress is more common in rural residents than it is in city dwellers, that does not necessarily mean that rural living causes this effect. Perhaps it is the opposite. People with this trait are more likely be to live in the country.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development developed a new study that addressed this question. They used functional analysis to help them. Imaging by resonance (fMRI).
The researchers used 63 healthy volunteers to ask subjects to complete questionnaires, work with working memory tasks, and then undergo an examination. fMRI scansParticipants answered questions that were intended to incite social stress while they were answering them. Participants were informed about the study. MRIThey went on a walk and didn’t know what the purpose of their research was.
The subjects were then randomly given a 1-hour walk in an urban setting (a busy Berlin shopping area) or in a natural setting (Berlin’s Grunewald Forest, which covers 3,000 hectares).
Researchers asked them not to wander off-course, or use their smartphones while walking. Each participant completed a second walk after the first. fMRI scanCompleted another questionnaire, along with a stress-inducing task.
After a walk in woods, the fMRI scans revealed that the activity in the amygdala was reduced. Researchers reportThe evidence supports the notion that stress can be triggered by nature. It is possible to achieve this in as little as 60 minutes.
“The results support the positive relationship between brain health and nature, but this is only the first study to establish the causal link.” “ environmental neuroscientist Simone Kühn, head of the Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.
Participants who took forest walks also reported more attention restoration and greater enjoyment of the walk, which is consistent with previous research.
Researchers also found interesting information about subjects who went on urban walks. Although their amygdala activity was not decreased like that of those who take nature walks, it did not increase despite being in an urban environment for about an hour.
“This strongly supports the beneficial effects of nature over urban exposure that causes additional stress,” The researchers write.
It doesn’t mean urban living is free from stress. But it can be a good indicator for city dwellers. It could be that the stressing effect on urban dwellers is less powerful or more widespread than previous studies have suggested.
In any event, the new study presents some of most compelling evidence to support this conclusion. You can reduce stress-related brain activity by Just like our ancestors, you can take a walk in the forest nearby.
The study was published by Molecular Psychiatry.
