healthbriefs
March is National Nutrition Month
Shining the
Nature Walks Equal
Spotlight
Outdoor Smarts
on Our
B
ehavior and health experts at Successes
the University of Michigan
have found that walking outside S
ometimes we may feel
doomed to repeat our
in parks or in nature helps im- mistakes, but not if we learn
prove attention span and memory to look to our successes rather
performance by 20 percent. The than our failures, suggests research from The Picower Institute
researchers, who published their for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of
findings Technology. It hinges on the fact that, “We have shown that
in Psychological Science, believe brain cells keep track of whether recent behaviors were suc-
the results may also be relevant to people suffering from cessful or not,” explains one of the scientists, and that when
mental fatigue. a behavior was successful, brain cells became more finely

“Interacting with nature can have similar effects as medi- tuned to what is being learned. Failure, on the other hand,
tating,” reports Marc Berman, a psychology researcher at appears to produce little or no change in the brain, nor does
the university. He adds, “People don’t have to enjoy the walk failure appear to trigger any improvement in behavior.
to get the benefits,” although they do tend to find spring and In their study, the researchers worked with monkeys,
summer walks more enjoyable. giving them trial and error tasks on a computer screen while

Study participants exhibited increased levels of alert- monitoring their brain activity. When a monkey answered
ness, satisfaction and mental tranquility after spending correctly, a signal lingered in its brain, neurons processed
just one hour interacting with nature. They reported that their information more sharply and effectively, and the monkey
levels of stress had decreased significantly and they felt more was more likely to get the next task right as well. It may help
in control of their mind. Similar benefits did not accrue from explain the longtime saying, “Success breeds success.”
urban walks.
10 www.VOFLnatural.com
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40