The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature

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An article by Berman et al. in Psychological Science shows that

immersion in a natural environment leads to more than simply a sense

of feeling refreshed, it also recharges our cognitive batteries:

We compare the restorative effects on cognitive functioning of

interactions with natural versus urban environments. Attention

restoration theory (ART) provides an analysis of the kinds of

environments that lead to improvements in directed-attention

abilities. Nature, which is filled with intriguing stimuli, modestly

grabs attention in a bottom-up fashion, allowing top-down directed-

attention abilities a chance to replenish. Unlike natural

environments, urban environments are filled with stimulation that

captures attention dramatically and additionally requires directed

attention (e.g., to avoid being hit by a car), making them less

restorative. We present two experiments that show that walking in

nature or viewing pictures of nature can improve directed-attention

abilities as measured with a backwards digit-span task and the

Attention Network Task, thus validating attention restoration theory.

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The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature

Psychological Science

Volume 19 Issue 12, Pages 1207 - 1212

ABSTRACT—We compare the restorative effects on cognitive functioning

of interactions with natural versus urban environments. Attention

restoration theory (ART) provides an analysis of the kinds of

environments that lead to improvements in directed-attention

abilities. Nature, which is filled with intriguing stimuli, modestly

grabs attention in a bottom-up fashion, allowing top-down directed-

attention abilities a chance to replenish. Unlike natural

environments, urban environments are filled with stimulation that

captures attention dramatically and additionally requires directed

attention (e.g., to avoid being hit by a car), making them less

restorative. We present two experiments that show that walking in

nature or viewing pictures of nature can improve directed-attention

abilities as measured with a backwards digit-span task and the

Attention Network Task, thus validating attention restoration theory.

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Carruthers

Wakefield, UK