Walking in nature improves attention span

Walking in nature helps to recover from mental exhaustion and improves our attention span, proves a study recently published in Naturecarried out by scientists at the University of Utah, in the United States.

There is much speculation about the benefits of green areas in these cases, but there are few studies on the neural mechanisms that would promote this effect. To fill the gap, the authors selected 92 volunteers, who were subjected to an attention test that required a lot of mental effort, leaving them exhausted.

Afterwards, they were divided into two groups: half walked for 40 minutes in a wooded area and the rest in an urban environment. During the test, participants were monitored using electroencephalogram (EEG) exams, which map electrical activity in regions of the brain.

The objective of study was to investigate not only the ability to restore attention, but aspects such as executive control, which involves the processes of planning and managing actions aimed at a given objective.

At the end of the walk, everyone repeated the test and reported how they felt. These data, combined with the EEG results, revealed that simply walking lightly, in any environment, improves attention and helps to recover functions. However, those who were in contact with nature performed better on executive control tasks and reported greater recovery than the others.

“The study suggests that nature has allowed neural mechanisms related to executive control to rest and recover. In other words, these people were able to complete the task better after the walk”, assesses Eliseth Leão, researcher and professor at the Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein. “The activation of our attention network is what allows us to direct our concentration and maintain focus, hence the importance of its restoration.”

According to the authors, the test reinforces the theory that describes the mechanisms through which a natural environment benefits attention. In nature, the person moves away from stressful factors and becomes more comfortable, and in the natural environment attention is not directed – unlike looking at a cell phone screen or sitting in traffic, for example.

“Attention is gently captured by something that attracts us with its beauty,” explains Leão. “Thus, nature allows the mechanisms that sustain our directed attention to rest and recover, as we effortlessly perceive the environment that surrounds us. .”

As the expert explains, human beings perceive the world through their senses. Those who live in large cities are exposed to a bombardment of stimuli, mainly visual and auditory. “Noise pollution, for example, is associated with greater levels of stress, agitation and preparation for an unnecessary 'fight or flight' [uma reação que ocorre na presença de algo ameaçador]. Some studies even indicate an association between air pollution and student performance.”

This is because evolutionarily loud sounds have always represented, and in many cases still represent, a danger (such as an animal roaring or a bomb exploding). “In large cities, accumulation and overexposure end up playing a similar role in triggering a reaction mediated by stress hormones”, explains Leão. Not to mention overexposure to technology, which consumes attention and produces mental exhaustion.

Take breaks

Therefore, advises the Einstein researcher, moments of pause are always necessary and should be part of everyday life, even for those who live in large urban centers. The study demonstrates that natural environments and light walks have effects on mental fatigue and cognitive processes. “We are developing research that demonstrates, for example, the role of beauty in restoring not only mental but also emotional fatigue.”

Research shows that other techniques also help with this recovery, promoting relaxation and changes in mental waves, such as meditation, contemplation of images of nature that promote positive emotions and listening to music.