Weekly Roundup: Nature and Brain Health, Women’s Tears Lowers Aggression in Men, Caffeine and Decision-Making, Surprise in the Brain, Making People More Hypnotisable

So at the start of 2024 there’s been plenty to report on — some of these stories coming in at the end of 2023. And as usual it’s a hard to pick to make but there’s some fun, some fascinating, and some important updates for you this week.

Closeness to Nature Improves Mental Health

There has been plenty of research into how exposure to nature benefits human health. the research is pretty consistently good — I previously reported on a review of the literature that supported that (see links below).

So arguably this may not be new news, however, the support is important and this recent research showed that even small changes in nature can make a difference and that older people may be more susceptible to this (or their risk of mental health issues may be higher).

Vegaraju and Amiri of Washington State University analysed the data from 42’000 people living in urban areas in Washington State and this was combined with surveys on mental and physical health and access to green and blue spaces, such as parks, forests, and lakes. And this showed an expected but also surprising…