"Going Outside- Even in the Cold- Improves Memory, Attention"
This article summarizes the results found by psychology researchers, Marc Berman, John Jonides and Stephan Kaplan, from the University of Michigan, when they explored the mental benefits of nature. Participants were sent on a walking route down a busy urban road and then on a route in a botanical garden. From their experiment they found a 20 percent increase in attention span and memory performance after individuals spent an hour in contact with nature, and no improvement after walking down a busy street. To further the experiment, the researchers also had participants look at pictures of nature and then of town scenes, which yielded the same results: memory and attention scores increased by 20 percent after studying nature scenes, but not urban ones.
These results from the University of Michigan show us that nature really does make the brain happy. While surrounded by the hustle and bustle of society, you are constantly distracted by the unimportant things happening around you. This causes the brain to not focus properly or be able to remember everything it has the potential to. But, when in nature, the brain is able to relax because it is no longer stuck trying to process the craziness happening around it. The environment is simple yet beautiful and allows the mind to perform at high levels. If all it takes to increase your cognitive potential by 20 percent is spending time in nature, why would you not take advantage of this opportunity? The wild makes the brain happy, and a better brain means a better you.
This direct contrast between urban environments and natural ones allows for a taste of how short term exposure effects us. But, in the following article, five scientists put this data to the test by spending a week technology-free in Utah's wilderness to study the effects.
These results from the University of Michigan show us that nature really does make the brain happy. While surrounded by the hustle and bustle of society, you are constantly distracted by the unimportant things happening around you. This causes the brain to not focus properly or be able to remember everything it has the potential to. But, when in nature, the brain is able to relax because it is no longer stuck trying to process the craziness happening around it. The environment is simple yet beautiful and allows the mind to perform at high levels. If all it takes to increase your cognitive potential by 20 percent is spending time in nature, why would you not take advantage of this opportunity? The wild makes the brain happy, and a better brain means a better you.
This direct contrast between urban environments and natural ones allows for a taste of how short term exposure effects us. But, in the following article, five scientists put this data to the test by spending a week technology-free in Utah's wilderness to study the effects.