Evidence that nature is good for you continues to mount, as a new study that compared nature walkers with urban walkers found that folks in the former group were better able to rest their brains.
The research, appearing in Nature, compared two sets of people who either went on a 40-minute, low-intensity nature walk or an urban walk of comparable time and distance. The study controlled for factors such as ambient temperature, humidity, elevation change, walking pace, heart rate, calories burned, and moving time.
The team analyzed self-reported affect among the participants as well as brain activity linked to executive attention before and after the walk. The latter data can help show how well the walkers were able to relax their brains during the walk.
"While affect improved for both groups, the nature walkers showed a significantly greater boost in positive affect than the urban walkers," the researchers said, adding that the data also suggested that the urban walk placed higher demands on executive attention.
"In other words, immersion in the urban environment imposed greater demands on executive attention resources, as participants navigated through construction zones, pedestrian traffic, vehicular hazards, and other typical urban sensory inputs like artificial sights, sounds and scents," they added.
In short? The people walking through urban zones weren't able to rest their brains as well as the nature walkers.
This new study adds to mounting evidence from the scientific community that says nature is good for us. For instance, one study found a correlation between long-term exposure to green spaces and reduced risk of anxiety and depression.
Another study found that spending just 10 minutes in nature can help adults with mental illness.
Meanwhile, green spaces benefit wildlife by providing habitat and food for various species, including pollinators.Â
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Often 😇 However, the researchers admitted that their sample was not very diverse — participants were mostly white, educated, and middle-aged — and advocated for future studies that can bridge this gap.
"By broadening the demographic scope, we can ensure that the insights gained from this research are more inclusive and relevant to a wider segment of the population," they said.
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