Human history has largely emerged in rural settings, where ancestors lived for thousands of years, while cities are a radically new type of habitat that, despite their many benefits, often leads to mental health stress.
According to what is published by the site Science notice Citing Molecular Psychiatry, research has linked urban environments to an increased risk of anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, including schizophrenia.
Physical and psychological benefits
Fortunately, research also points to a simple solution: even a short visit to the landscape can help with a range of mental and physical health benefits, including lower blood pressure, reduced anxiety and depression, improved mood, concentration, memory, sleep. better and faster recovery. .
Numerous studies have supported this association, but there is still a lot to discover and learn about it.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have searched for an answer as to whether walking can trigger beneficial brain changes in a new study focusing on fMRI-assisted functional magnetic resonance imaging.
The researchers looked at the amygdala in the brain, a small structure at the center of the brain involved in stress processing, emotional learning, and the fight or flight response, because research suggests it is less active during stress in rural areas. compared to urban dwellers, but this does not necessarily mean that rural life is the same, which causes this effect, as it can be the opposite, and people who have this characteristic are more likely to live normally in the countryside.
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1 hour walk
The researchers asked 63 healthy adult volunteer participants to fill out questionnaires and test a working memory task, as well as undergo fMRI scans while answering questions, some of which are designed to induce social stress.
The subjects were then randomly assigned to walk for an hour in an urban area (a lively shopping district in Berlin) or in a natural setting (the 3,000-hectare Grunwald forest in Berlin).
The researchers asked each group to walk a specific route in one of the two locations, without deviating from the track or using their cell phones along the way. Then each study participant had another fMRI scan of their brain, after performing an additional stressful task and filling out another questionnaire.
Beneficial effects of nature
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) showed decreased activity in the amygdala after a walk in the woods, the researchers reported, supporting the idea that nature can lead to beneficial effects in areas of the brain associated with stress. And it looks like it can happen in just 60 minutes.
“The findings support an alleged positive relationship between nature and brain health, but this is the first study to show a causal link,” says environmental neuroscientist Simon Kohn, president of the Lise Meitner Environmental Neuroscience Group at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. .
Participants who walked in the woods also reported regaining more attention and enjoying the same walk than those who walked in urban areas, a finding consistent with findings from the fMRI study and previous research.
The researchers also learned something interesting about people walking in urban areas. Although the activity of the amygdala did not decrease as much as those who walked in nature, it also did not increase, despite spending an hour in a crowded urban environment.
The researchers said the findings favor walking in natural environments, as opposed to urban exposure, which can cause additional stress for humans.
