Nature Has Profound Effects On Your Brain
People are more disconnected from nature than ever before, and science has shown this is changing how we think and feel.
Today, people stare at their smartphones, work long hours in a cubicle, and binge watch their favorite shows instead of interacting with the natural world. In fact, an article by CNN pointed out that teenagers spend more than 7 hours a day on screens, not including time spent on schoolwork. Similarly, screen time for adults continues to rise, as more and more work is done through a computer, Netflix is becoming more popular, etc. This means spending time outside and interacting with the natural world has sharply declined in recent years, the effects of which have been the subject of numerous scientific studies.
Adding to the problem is the fact that the average person doesn’t have adequate access to greenspaces, as nearly 60% of the global population lives in cities, according to the UN. So instead of walking through a forest, people now walk down crowded sidewalks–instead of swimming in a lake, people now swim in chlorinated health club pools. Perhaps some city-dwellers have access to a decent park, but most unfortunately don’t. For many inner city children, the only play areas are on asphalt. Therefore, some children spend the majority of their childhood without experiencing much more than a few trees planted on the sidewalk.
So what is this lack of interaction with nature doing to our brains? Is there a connection with increasing rates of depression? What about our decreasing attention spans? What about our increased stress levels, blood pressure, negative thoughts, etc.?
Can reconnecting with nature reverse these troubling trends? Well, yes, at least according to the studies discussed below.
Nature Reduces Depression
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that in 2017 “17.3 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode.” This represents 7.1% of the adult population. Other countries show similar statistics, with the most industrialized being the most prone to depression. Looking at the studies below, it seems reconnecting with nature can be part of the solution.
This study from the University of Exeter used survey data on more than 1000 people, specifically those who had moved to or away from green urban areas. After removing the effects of other factors that change mental health, such as education, employment, personalities, income, etc., the data showed a clear trend. Those that had moved to a green urban area experienced a sharp uptick in their mental health, while those that moved away experienced a sharp decline. More importantly, these effects lasted up to 3 years. Therefore, living with access to nature can have significant short and long term effects on your mental health.
Moreover, the same found that the effects began shortly before the move. This suggests that just the idea of having less access to nature caused a decrease in mental health, whereas the anticipation of having more access resulted in an increase.
Furthermore, these two studies tested the effects of contact with nature and if the duration of the contact had an impact. The authors found that short contact with nature can significantly improve mental well being. More specifically, the authors claim that participants experienced benefits in their hedonic and self-transcendent emotions. Hedonic emotions are the natural tendency to pull away from pain and to approach pleasure. Self-transcendent emotions feelings for something beyond yourself, such as gratitude or compassion. The researchers found that the participants were more aware and had more regulation of these two types of emotions. However, the difference between having 5 minutes of contact and having 15 minutes of contact showed no difference. Therefore, just being in contact with nature for only a few minutes can do wonders for how you feel about yourself and others.
Also, this study from Stanford University sought to test the physical changes of participants’ brains from 90 minutes of walking in nature. Participants were divided into 2 groups, one of which was asked to walk along a busy highway, while the other group was asked to walk through a grassland with trees and bushes. Before doing so, the researchers took their vital signs and gave them brain scans, and afterwards these were repeated. They found that there was no significant difference between the vital signs of each group, but the brain scans showed less neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex for the group that walked through nature. This brain area is thought to play an important role in rumination, which is the repetition of negative thoughts. According to an article published in Frontiers of Human Neuroscience, “Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) often ruminate about past experiences, especially those with negative content.” Therefore, being in nature can help stop what is known as the depression-rumination cycle, in which some people incessantly harp on their flaws, negative experiences, etc., exacerbating their depression.
These results repeated those found in a previous study by the same authors.
Nature Reduces Anxiety
According to ourworldindata.org, “globally an estimated 284 million people experienced an anxiety disorder in 2017, making it the most prevalent mental health or neurodevelopmental disorder.” This data also revealed that anxiety disorders have been steadily rising since the data was first compiled in 1990. Can this be explained through lack of interaction with nature?
In a meta-analysis of 143 studies, the authors found that exposure to greenspaces led to reduced stress, as measured by lower heart rate, lower blood pressure, and less salivary cortisol, which is produced by the adrenal gland. They scoured five academic databases and scrutinized all relevant studies up until 2017, making it the first analysis of its kind. Based on these results, its clear that there are direct and measurable health benefits to being in nature. The researchers also found that exposure to greenspaces led to lower rates of diabetes and cardiovascular related deaths, which the researchers believe are related to stress reduction.
Nature Improves Attention Span
This study out of Denmark found that attention spans for virtually every demographic are declining. They claim our “collective attention span is indeed narrowing, and that this effect occurs – not only on social media – but also across diverse domains including books, web searches, movie popularity, and more.” Likely causes for this are, of course, the constant bombardment of information, smartphones, the news cycle, video games, among many others. However, can disengagement from nature be a contributor?
In this study, the researchers asked participants to simply view pictures of nature to determine how it affected their ability to focus. 30 adults between the ages of 64 and 79 and 26 students between the ages of 18 and 26 were asked to take the Attention Network Test, view a photo of a natural scene for 6 minutes, and then retake the test. The Attention Network Test is designed to test the three types of attention: alertness, orientation, and executive attention, which “involves monitoring and resolving conflict among thoughts, feelings, and responses.” Like the name suggests, executive attention keeps your impulses under control and helps you choose which to follow. The researchers found that both age groups saw an increase in their executive attention scores, while alertness and orientation were not affected. This suggests that being disconnected from nature is at least partly responsible for decreasing attention spans.
Forest Bathing, Ecotherapy, and Urban Planning
Because of the above results, some people are making an effort to spend more time in nature.
For example, in Japan, forest bathing or shinrin-yoku has become more popular. This is the deceptively simple practice of just being alone in nature. Eliminate all distractions and just enjoy the sun, the trees, the sound of birds, etc. Dr. Qing Li, the author of the book Forest Bathing, suggests engaging all five senses to get the full experience. He also wants the readers to acknowledge and engage their sixth sense: your state of mind. Only after allowing nature to fill all six can you really connect with it. Li also provides ample evidence that shinrin-yoku provides numerous mental benefits, many of which were discussed above.
Likewise, its becoming more common for doctors to write Ecotherapy prescriptions, in which a patient is instructed to spend time in nature while focusing on particular stimuli, such as the sound of a river, which is similar to some forms of meditation. According to Penn State University, “Healthcare providers are incorporating Ecotherapy in their treatment regimens for a range of conditions.” While these do not carry the same weight as a medication prescription, they might have a similar impact.
Researchers are also pushing urban planners and policy makers to put greater emphasis on greenspaces. These researchers claimed that their work needs to “encourage practitioners and policymakers to give due regard to how they can create, maintain, and improve existing accessible greenspaces in deprived areas.” Therefore, the cities of the future will hopefully have more parks, urban gardens, street-side vegetation, etc. Because the percentage of people living in cities is going up rapidly, this is more important than ever to keep people healthy and happy.
“The enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it; tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it; and thus, through the influence of the mind over the body, gives the effect of refreshing rest and reinvigoration to the whole system.”
-Frederick Law Olmstead
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