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How Walking in Nature Changes the Brain
- RIMR 11y agoIs there any reason to believe that urban hiking has a similar effect? I don't go on nature walks very often, but learning to walk my way around my city has given me an entirely different outlook on where I live. Seattle has a lot of greenery, but walking around is a pretty urban experience. I think that there is also a lot to be said about regularly moving your body (walking 5-10 miles a day), and the effect it has on your mental state. I wouldn't be surprised if your surroundings play a minimal role compared to simply engaging in physical activity and changing your surroundings regularly.
- patrickmclaren 11y agoWell, the linked article does discuss the potential difference between a nature walk, and an urban walk. > In an earlier study published last month, he and his colleagues found that volunteers who walked briefly through a lush, green portion of the Stanford campus were more attentive and happier afterward than volunteers who strolled for the same amount of time near heavy traffic.
- nether 11y ago> We show in healthy participants that a brief nature experience, a 90-min walk in a natural setting, decreases both self-reported rumination and neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex (sgPFC), whereas a 90-min walk in an urban setting has no such effects on self-reported rumination or neural activity. http://www.pnas.org/content/112/28/8567.abstract http://www.pnas.org/content/112/28/8567.abstract
- prewett 11y agoAccording to the article, though, the "urban setting" was next to a highway, which isn't typical of any urban setting I've lived in. And the "natural setting" was still in the middle of Stanford, which isn't really what I would call a natural setting. If the parent lives in an urban area similar to the "natural setting" of Stanford's campus' green area(s), then I'd say that yes, the parent would benefit. The study seems pretty handwavy, though. I'm not sure that a walk by a highway counts as a urban area control group. (Although, it also depends on what "highway" they are referring to. The street in front of the campus is not a highway the same way the freeway/interstate is.)
- arrrg 11y agoWalking next to a busy street is unnerving and stressful to me (to me it seems as though the noise is the biggest problem), so I can easily imagine there being no positive effect. However, walking down a quiet alley with no cars (audible or visible) has to me nearly the same meditative effect as walking in nature. Not alle urban settings are the same, so I could imagine there being a positive effect in some. (Structurally some small pedestrian-only alley from Renaissance times in the town I grew up in actually feels very similar to nature.)
- Symbiote 11y agoCould the noise be the main factor? My office is directly underneath the flightpath to London Heathrow Airport, and my house is under the secondary approach path. There's a landing about every 90 seconds for most of the day (average 1290 flights per day, maximum 15 between 23:00-0600). Planes tend to be < 2000ft overhead, and Heathrow has lots of big planes. I don't need to go to the countryside to notice the peace and quiet, and feel much better rested. Hotels in the centres of Sheffield and Birmingham have had the same effect. http://www.flightradar24.com/51.48,-0.46/12 http://www.flightradar24.com/51.48,-0.46/12
- alanh 11y agoThere was a study showing that crime goes down when the neighborhood executes a simple trees++; and from this we can definitely deduce that the deciduous decidedly discriminates. Or in other words, urban hiking may have a similar effect, but it is quite likely to be lesser. (And as another poster points out, an urban hike seems to have no effect.)
- coolnow 11y agoYou completely failed to produce a meaningful post; i don't understand what you're on about.
- coldcode 11y agoI visited my cousins in a little town in Germany recently that is surrounded by walking paths all through town and in the surrounding hills. The town is filled with clinics that Germans get to go to to recover from surgery and other health issues because the walking and nature is so peaceful. Wish I lived there :-(
- chrismealy 11y agoWhat's the name of the town?
- k__ 11y agoYes, Germany is nice place. I live on the rim of one of its bigger cities. 10 minutes walk and I'm in the forest.
- Symbiote 11y agoI think this is quite normal in much of Europe. Kettering in England is a typical town — few people would recommend visiting it. Look at the official (government-produced) map: http://binged.it/1SDXCaH http://binged.it/1SDXCaH (the layer should say "Ordnance Survey", I hope it works outside the UK). The pink dotted/dashed lines are walking, cycling or horseriding paths. There are lots! Kettering was chosen at random. Scroll north and some pink lines have pink diamonds — these are long-distance leisure routes, often with some kind of theme or historical purpose to the route. I spent a lot of time as a child touring the USA with my parents. The national parks were great! But outside these parks, are footpaths rare?
- deadbeef404 11y agoI'm not sure how anyone could think that walking next to a loud highway for an hour and a half (without a distraction such as a friend or music) would be a great idea.
- nether 11y agoSomeone who just considers it beneficial as physical activity might, like this guy: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9933248 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9933248
- leeoniya 11y agoNature is, without a doubt, something you simply cannot afford to miss in this short life. I try to travel as frequently as I can to hike, mountain bike, snowboard and scuba. I was in Switzerland for several days recently and it was just jaw-dropping. [1][2][3][4][5]. Being away from crowds/touristy areas, the concrete jungle, light/noise/air pollution really puts a lot of your life and problems into perspective. [1] https://i.imgur.com/ETu4tsr.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ETu4tsr.jpg [2] https://i.imgur.com/EsppCVS.jpg https://i.imgur.com/EsppCVS.jpg [3] https://i.imgur.com/WwqmZjJ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/WwqmZjJ.jpg [4] https://i.imgur.com/aWJxEZf.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aWJxEZf.jpg [5] https://i.imgur.com/zJRh5tm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/zJRh5tm.jpg
- sheldonb 11y agoI was there on a hike along the Via Alpina! Is that Lauterbrunnen and possibly the train to Jungfraujoch? One of the most memorable times of my life was hiking through there (Meiringen, Grindelwald, and Lauterbrunnen specifically). Very peaceful and meditative.
- leeoniya 11y agoyes, this is a hike from Murren to Gimmelwald which is quite literally "The Shire" [1] (after a train from Lauterbrunnen). and yes, Jungfraujoch of course. [1] https://i.imgur.com/46Ujdqa.jpg https://i.imgur.com/46Ujdqa.jpg
- Symbiote 11y agoThe literal "Shire" is the West Midlands of England [1]. Examples: Staffordshire: http://roughmini.s3.amazonaws.com/best-places/2015/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2014/11/Edited-Main-image-Peak-District-England-AWL_UK07221-1900x1080_c.jpg http://roughmini.s3.amazonaws.com/best-places/2015/wp-conten... Worcestershire: http://hdw.datawallpaper.com/architecture/broadway-tower-worcestershire-engl-wide-wallpaper-584001.jpg http://hdw.datawallpaper.com/architecture/broadway-tower-wor... Warwickshire: http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Bidford-tourism-1024x682.jpg http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/B... The Black Country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Country https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=industrial+revolution+black+country&tbm=isch&tbs=isz:l,itp:photo https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=industrial+revolution+blac... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_%28Middle-earth%29#Inspiration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_%28Middle-earth%29#Inspi...
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- nether 11y agoIf urbanization makes people depressed and anxious, why do millennials seem to prefer cities? How does this jive with the "safety in numbers" feeling young people usually use to explain why they want to live in cities? I'm starting to think that the desire to live in cities in our newest generation has been implanted by marketers. Keep humans in a constant state of rushing and anxiety, then quell them with gastropubs and single-origin coffee and other urbane pleasures, in order reinforce a permanent state of discontent. The goal is to have an insatiable working class that will do anything to afford their $1,500/month Brooklyn closet, without realizing that you can be much happier and more relaxed anywhere else.
- chrismealy 11y agoIn Britain and other places people have the right to roam, but in America nature walks are generally most accessible to city dwellers. Seattle has loads of easily accessible natural areas (off the top of my head, Karkeek, Magnussen, Seward, Ravenna, Schmitz, Discovery, Lincoln, Arboretum). Where I grew up in the sticks walking in the woods meant trespassing, angry dogs, and barbed wire, or a long drive to a state park.
- optimusclimb 11y agoGoogling defines millennials as 18-34 for me. Reasons I think people in that age range would prefer to live in a city: 1 - More people, more events and places to socialize == more opportunities to find a mate 2 - Since people in those age groups right now are sacked by debt, or working jobs lower on the totem pole (or even super low paying internships)...living in a city means they can avoid car ownership 3 - This might sound ridiculous, but...along with point 1, socializing frequently means drinking, and in suburbs, that usually goes hand in hand with drunk driving. Not an issue in the city. Honestly modern suburbs just make you feel isolated.
- collyw 11y agoJobs, and singles would be my guess as to why young people prefer cities.
- seszett 11y agoIt seems like I'm one of those millennials, according to some definitions. This group of humans that are so different, alien and impossible to understand, it seems? Well, almost everyone around me prefers to live in the countryside. I do, too. The thing is, most jobs in IT and other domains that were pushed on the young at school are not in the countryside, and telecommuting jobs aren't plentiful either. A sizable amount of people dream of having a small farm or something in the mountains, some of my friends actually have done it, but it's not easy. Some people prefer cities, but the only reason you might think all "millennials" do, is that more of them have worked for a shorter time yet, and do not yet miss a better environment.
- lingben 11y agoJapanese concept of 'forest bathing': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_bathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_bathing there may also be a biochemical process here involving the inhaling of phytoncides we don't really need another reason to respect and protect trees and nature but there is ample evidence that we need them much more than they need us
- krohling 11y agoAnother interesting side effect of the outdoors that I've noticed is the impact on human social interaction. I ride the train into SF every day and throughout the week I sit next to countless other people without speaking to a single one of them. I went backpacking through the Lost Cost Trail last weekend and had a conversation with literally every human being that I passed. Not just a "hi, how you doing?" but a genuine conversation about where they were from, what part of the trail they started on, where they were going, what they had seen. In fact, I would get people waving and saying hi from 100 yards away across a stream. It felt genuine and easy and I'm pretty sure they all felt the same.
- binarysolo 11y agoFor what it's worth, I've noticed that for me too but have considered it a ruleset issue: we all desire to connect with other human beings, but because there are too many people everywhere and of low connection relevancy, the default we take is to not interact with anyone, else we'd never get around to doing anything. In nature the people are scarce and also all share an appreciation for nature, so it's natural for us to want to connect.
- WalterSear 11y agoThat's not nature, that's how people behave in a leisure enviroment, and in other locations where they feel some commonality with the people around them.
- alanh 11y agoFor an extra boost of that natural feeling, take your clothes off in the elements.
- lastofus 11y agoEven better in natural hot springs
- fungi 11y agoI just got back from a walk in Nature for my lunch brake. A Kookaburra stole my sandwich and now i'm stressed as fuck and angry at the world. /anecdote
- seizethecheese 11y ago> the scientists randomly assigned half of the volunteers to walk for 90 minutes through a leafy, quiet, parklike portion of the Stanford campus or next to a loud, hectic, multi-lane highway in Palo Alto. So waking through a particularly beautiful part of Stanford campus leads to better mental health than waking along a noisy highway. No shit.
- hrnnnnnn 11y agoYet, until these things are empirically verified, they're "common sense", not science.
- crander 11y agoAre we really still at the point in "Landscape and Urban Planning" research that we need to verify that walking in the woods chills you out and helps you focus more than walking down a busy street?
- calibraxis 11y agoIt's about looking at the underlying mechanisms. Lots of science is about looking at "no shit, Sherlock" phenomena. The hope is you can find principles beneath the commonsense aspects. Ideally, you see the commonsense and allow yourself to get puzzled by it. For example, physicists can't tell you much about what goes on outside your window; it's too complex. They isolate little things in highly controlled environments which remove as much as possible. ("Experiments".)
- crander 11y agoYeah. And I thought this experiment was too stupid. I can't beleive how petty Hacker News has gotten to mark me down on this. Unsubscribe.
- eli_gottlieb 11y agoBut I wouldn't really call the groomed Stanford campus a natural area.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- hooch 11y agoNature by its movement breathes impermanence. Urban structures maintain the illusion of permanence.
- hrnnnnnn 11y agoIt's odd that we feel this way when the opposite is closer to the truth. Citites change so much, but the forest near my house where I grew up is probably almost the same as when I left.
- aaimnr 11y agoIt's about the direct perception of impermanence, which in a timescale of a walk in a park is much more striking in nature, where everything is in a constant flux.
- maxerickson 11y agoA couple years ago I walked a trail that the US Forest Service had developed several decades prior. There were quite some signs discussing the beautiful views out over the river valley and a lot more trees completely obscuring those views.
- dpflan 11y agoInteresting. Also, urban structures are founded upon right angles, and the urban experience is very linear. The rigidity of urbanity is in stark contrast to the variable angular expression of nature. It's interesting when great architects works are praised that push the limits of structural integrity and aesthetic, finding more varied expressions of structure, because that new creation seems to be reaching towards nature in the sense that we are valuing the variation.
- mendelsd 11y agoHighly recommended for those living in London: http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/book_1/index.shtml http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/book_1/index.shtml All those walks start and end at rail stations. You'll need a compass, but no sophisticated orientation skills are required.
- ajuc 11y agoI walk 20 minutes to and from work through park each day. I like it, but I kinda associate that park with my job at this point, and immediately start to think what I have to do the next day. I also like to go on a few hours long photo-shooting trips through my city and it relaxes me more, no matter the relative lack of nature. I think the point is - it makes me focus on different things, after a while I'm in the "flow" and forget about daily problems.
- ricogallo 11y agoHowever I'd like to point out this nice dissection of the article, where a lot of serious flaws had been found. For instance: missing significance. http://neuroconscience.com/2015/06/30/a-walk-in-the-park-increases-poor-research-practices-and-decreases-reviewer-critical-thinking/ http://neuroconscience.com/2015/06/30/a-walk-in-the-park-inc...
- ashurbanipal 11y agoThank you for that link. I am not expert on statistical methods - is the reference to the F-stat in the link meant to indicate that the p-value was only 7%?
- ricogallo 11y agoYes, traditionally you need the 5% of error, or even 1%. Also the partial eta-squared is the ANOVA measure for the size of the effects studied, which happens to be very low too: 9%.
- mfringel 11y agoI made the decision that no amount of benefit from nature walks is worth the gamble of being screwed-for-life by Lyme Disease. Clearly, that math works for some people, and good on them. I just can't make the odds work.
- arikrak 11y agoYou should never leave your room then; coming near people is more dangerous than going into nature. As long as it's not caught too late, lyme disease is curable.
- ashurbanipal 11y agothe tick has to stay attached for 24 hours in the first place. If you let a tick stay on you for 24 hours, you have a lot of other issues beyond Lyme.
- jmnicolas 11y agoAre you sure about the 24 hours thing ? From memory it all depends on the tick. And if you remove it in a non optimal way you can still be contaminated. On French websites you can still find the wrong advice to use ether to make the tick sleep. In fact it makes it sick and it can throw up in your bloodstream thus contaminating you.
- normloman 11y agoBug spray. Tick checks. High socks. You'll be fine.
- will_work4tears 11y agoHmm, I 'get' the fear of that, it's not unreasonable, but not going into nature to avoid a small chance of lyme disease seems shortsighted. Like others said, it's curable, and the tick has to be on you for 24 hours, and it's not like a guaranteed thing[0]. Just check when you get home at the least. Bug sprays and whatnot work great too (check out Lemon Eucalyptus oil, it's as strong as DEET but without any side effects according to the CDC and it's pretty inexpensive on Amazon). That said, I get it, I avoid skiing with the same fervor; too much risk of bodily harm for little reward, also things like tree wells and avalanches? No thanks. People look at me as weird as you probably feel we are looking at you. (it's also expensive, so there's that excuse) [0] - http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/13/us/lyme-disease-is-hard-to-catch-and-easy-to-halt-study-finds.html http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/13/us/lyme-disease-is-hard-to...
- ENTP 11y agoGrew up in Snowdonia, North Wales. Nature made me feel both privileged and insignificant at the same time. It truly is amazing that there is so much variety and depth to nature. There is so much life in there, you just need to open your eyes and ears. I highly recommend the area as a traveling destination.
- thebouv 11y agoBeing in a wooded area triggers my anxiety. I'm constantly itching, scratching and worried about ticks (as others have mentioned here). Obsessively to the point of not being able to relax. I have no affinity for flowers or trees or any such thing -- I'm just not built that way. But there are other ways to enjoy Nature -- the beach for instance. It doesn't have to be a stroll through the woods or a hike. It can be just as freeing and relaxing to be on a beach. Well, except I'm a pseudo-ginger (red beard, blonde hair, pale and freckled). So I'm usually under a giant umbrella, coated in the strongest SPF blocker I can be. And a big straw hat to boot. Hell, now that I think about it, the Outside is trying to kill me. I should stay home more.
- mafribe 11y agoIf you hike at altitude, say above 3.5 km, you'll encounter few animals and plants. The Andes in Peru, Bolivia and Chile are very suitable for this kind of hiking. The sun is even stronger than at sea level though!
- rsync 11y agoMay I suggest ditching the sunscreen in favor of a very lightweight, breathable synthetic "workout" shirt ? You know, the kinds that runners often wear ... long sleeve. And then a decent 4" brim hat. OR (outdoor research) makes a very good, highly rated one. Or just military surplus model. Makes it much faster and simpler to just get outside than having to deal with sunblock. If at beach/swimming, you can substitute the shirt for a longsleeve rashguard. I swim/surf in the ocean with my hat on. No problem.
- rsync 11y agoMay I put forth a pet theory ? Indulge me ... Nature, and being in nature, is soothing and palliative because your sophistication/environment ratio goes to infinity. At any point, you can be in an environment (city, highway, coffee shop) and you have a certain level of sophistication, and no matter how sophisticated you are, there's a ratio to the environment you are in. Quiet main street in your home town ? Very high ratio. Formal wedding in a foreign country surrounded by strangers ? Low ratio. Stress. Uncertainty. But in nature, no matter how unsophisticated you are, the "nature" you are in is (essentially) zero complexity (at least in terms of technology and cultural sophistication). So the ratio goes to infinity. No matter what. That's probably nice for a brain...