Reducing Stress – How Does Nature Nurture the Brain?



While being close to nature is regarded to be excellent for the brain and mental health, living in a city is a well-known risk factor for acquiring mental problems. According to research, people who live in rural areas experience less amygdala activation under stressful situations than people who live in cities. This finding points to a new benefit of nature.

According to Sonja Sudimac, a predoctoral fellow in the Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience and the study's lead author, "but so far the hen-and-egg problem could not be disentangled, namely whether nature actually caused the effects in the brain or whether the particular individuals chose to live in rural or urban regions."

In order to establish a causal relationship, the researchers from the Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to track the brain activity of 63 healthy volunteers before and after either a one-hour walk through Grunewald forest or a busy Berlin shopping street. The results of the study demonstrated that amygdala activity decreased following a stroll in nature, proving that being in nature had a beneficial effect on brain areas connected to stress.

"The findings confirm the favorable relationship between nature and brain health that was previously believed to exist, but this is the first study to establish a causal relationship. According to Simone Kühn, director of the Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience, "Interestingly, the brain activity after the urban walk in these regions stayed consistent and did not exhibit increases, which argues against a frequently held assumption that urban exposure produces increased stress.

The authors show that spending time in nature has a beneficial effect on the parts of the brain that process stress, and that this effect is already noticeable after a one-hour stroll. This increases our understanding of how our physical environment affects our mental and brain health. Going for a walk in nature may help prevent mental health difficulties from emerging and may assist to lessen the negative consequences of living in a city. Even a brief exposure to nature may reduce amygdala activity.                                                                                                  
The findings are consistent with a prior study (2017, Scientific Reports), which found that city inhabitants who lived near forests had an amygdala structure that was physiologically healthier and, presumably, could handle stress better. The significance of urban planning plans to increase the availability of green spaces in cities in order to improve residents' mental health and well-being is once again supported by this new study.                                                                                  
The researchers are currently embarking on a study exploring how a one-hour walk in natural versus urban areas impacts stress in mothers and their babies in order to evaluate the positive effects of nature on various demographics and age groups.

Findings from associations between geographic characteristics and brain anatomy in people in quest of characteristics that make up a "enriched environment" published in Scientific Reports on September 20, 2017, by Simone Kühn, Sandra Düzel, Peter Eibich, Christian Krekel, Henry Wüstemann, Jens Kolbe, Johan Martensson, Jan Goebel, Jürgen Gallinat, Gert G. Wagner, and Ulman Lindenberger.

By MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 

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