The influence of a walk in nature on human resting brain activity: a randomized controlled trial

Behavioral studies suggest that immersion in nature improves affect and executive attention. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these benefits remain unclear. This randomized controlled trial (N=92) explored differences in self-reported affect and in frontal midline theta (fMθ), a neural oscillation linked to executive attention, between a 40-min, low-intensity nature walk and an urban walk of comparable time and distance—controlling for ambient temperature, humidity, elevation change, walking pace, heart rate, calories burned, and moving time between the two groups. While affect improved for both groups, the nature walkers showed a significantly greater boost in positive affect than the urban walkers. Electroencephalography (EEG) data revealed significantly greater fMθ activity following the urban walk compared to the nature walk, suggesting that the urban walk placed higher demands on executive attention. In contrast, the nature walk allowed executive attention to rest, as indicated by the lower fMθ activity observed after the walk. This study suggests that changes in fMθ may be a potential neural mechanism underlying the attentional strain of urban environments in contrast to the attentional rest in nature.

Amy S. McDonnell, David L. Strayer