Families and individuals should spend more time walking in nature to unwind and reduce stress. — AFP
From sleep problems and stress to blood pressure, there are countless benefits associated with nature, from vast expanses of woodland to urban green spaces.
But nature may not yet have revealed all its secrets.
A new study by United States researchers suggests that taking a walk in nature may improve attention and concentration, findings that could inspire recruiters and managers alike.
At least once in their lives – and probably much more regularly – city dwellers have all experienced the kind of urban noise – cars, telephones and other nuisances – that can easily affect their attention capacity.
This is something that needs to be taken into account, not only in the workplace, but also in employees' homes, as remote working becomes more widespread.
Psychology researchers at the University of Utah have investigated the extent to which nature can counteract these adverse effects, or simply prove beneficial to brain health.
"There's an idea called biophilia that basically says that our evolution over hundreds of thousands of years has got us to have more of a connection or a love of natural living things," said University of Utah psychology professor, David Strayer, in a statement.
"And our modern urban environment has become this dense urban jungle with cell phones and cars and computers and traffic, just the opposite of that kind of restorative environment."
Unlike most studies, which are based on self-reporting and self-assessment, this research, carried out between April and October 2022, is based on objective measurements.
The researchers analysed electroencephalography (EEG) data – which measures and records the brain's electrical activity – from 92 participants, before and after a 40-minute walk.
Half of the participants walked in an arboretum located a short distance from the university, while the other half walked on asphalt.
Before the walk, the researchers did everything in their power to "deplete the participants’ attentional reserves."
To do this, they asked them to perform a challenging cognitive task: counting backwards from 1,000, seven by seven.
"No matter how good you are at mental math, it gets pretty draining after 10 minutes. And then right after that, we give them an attention task," explains study co-author, Amy McDonnell.
Improved attention
Using electrodes placed over the entire surface of the participants' scalps, the scientists were able to observe a very clear mapping of their brains, based on three components of attention: alerting, orienting and executive control.
Published in the journal, Scientific Reports, the research didn't reveal any major differences in alertness or orientation among the participants, but those who took a walk in nature exhibited improved executive control (decision-making, problem-solving, etc.).
"The participants that had walked in nature showed an improvement in their executive attention..., whereas the urban walkers did not, so then we know it's something unique about the environment that you're walking in," adds McDonnell.
Prof Strayer continues: "The kinds of things that we do on an everyday basis tend to heavily use those executive attentional networks.
"It's important in concentration and especially, so it's an essential component of higher order thinking."
Future research from the pair will be aimed at refining these conclusions.
The aim will be to determine not only the type of natural environment in which these cognitive benefits are most apparent, but also the optimal degree of exposure required to achieve them.
"If you understand something about what's making us mentally and physically healthier, you could then potentially engineer our cities so that they supported that," Prof Strayer concludes.
For those who don't have access to green spaces, one option could be watching nature videos, which scientists suggest could help you relax and reduce stress levels. – AFP Relaxnews
