By Chris Mooney June 29 at 3:42 PM
In the past several months, a bevy of studies have added to a growing literature on the mental and physical benefits of spending time outdoors. That includes recent research showing that short micro-breaks spent looking at a nature scene have a rejuvenating effect on the brain — boosting levels of attention — and also that kids who attend schools featuring more greenery fare better on cognitive tests.
And Monday, yet another addition to the literature arrived — but this time with an added twist. It’s a cognitive neuroscience study, meaning not only that benefits from a nature experience were captured in an experiment, but also that their apparent neural signature was observed through brain scans.
The paper, by Stanford’s Gregory Bratman and several colleagues from the United States and Sweden, was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In it, 38 individuals who lived in urban areas, and who had “no history of mental disorder,” were divided into two groups — and asked to take a walk.
That was known for many years. For example, the book Last Child In the Woods bemoans the fact that kids don’t get enough nature. Kids survive but don’t really flourish. Oh , the fucking computer is better than a wet land or forest, right Board of Ed.
Problem is around here I used to walk in Twinney’s I live near by. But now, since all of the development, I am disturbing the wildlife that has fewer home areas since Park & Ride area development and the strip mall next to Park & Ride., And so on even the area beyond the duck pond used to be woods but no more.
We should think of the wild life not just us. Sooooo leave the areas alone around here and go to Harriman or someplace.