Member-only story
Does getting into the countryside really lower stress and improve well-being?
Or is that those who enjoy the countryside feel less stressed in the countryside — but city lovers may feel less stressed in the city. It could also be that being in the countryside involves activity and exercise which we also know is beneficial so it could be the effect of movement and not nature itself.
This is a conundrum that researchers into the impacts of nature on health, well-being, and the brain need to try to disentangle. But first off, there is plenty, and I do mean plenty, of research to show the positive effects of nature on human well-being and health — I regularly report on this: for example here or this one on walking in nature here.
To try to resolve some of these chicken-or-egg problems Sonja Sudimac et al. from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development conducted an interesting study. In this they compared the results of 63 people who undertook a 60-minute walk in the wood and of a 60-minute walk along the streets of Berlin.
This therefore takes the same person and compares that person in an urban environment and in a natural environment. The levels of activity are also identical — this allows for better analysis and can point to causation rather than just correlation.
