In O. Henry’s The Last Leaf, a painting of a leaf saves someone’s life. Seeing the last of the leaves outside the window endure a cold and windy night, a pneumonia-stricken artist regains hope and the strength to live. As figurative as it sounds, the notion that nature is life-giving is more than a miracle, coincidence, or a plot armor. According to environmental psychology and neuroscience research, nature-gazing is an effective way to enhance physical and mental health as well as cognition. While experiencing nature in-person is optimal, the therapeutic power of nature is so extensive that even looking at pictures of nature has similar effects (Franklin, 2012). In hospitals, patients exposed to gardens or artworks depicting nature show reduction in pain and anxiety (Franklin, 2012).
We often take nature for granted without realizing its health and cognitive benefits, many of which have surfaced recently. Today, scientific and medical communities harness the physiological and psychological benefits of nature to help patients recover from brain injury and improve mental health. For example, forest therapy, or guided recreational sessions in forests, was found to be an effective rehabilitation strategy that reduces depression and anxiety in stroke patients (Chun et al., 2017). Forest therapy is a practice inspired by shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, that began in Japan as a response to the technological boom in the 1980s (Hansen et al., 2017). Especially when pharmacological interventions are ineffective or unavailable, nature-based therapies present another possibility.
The practice of nature therapy is not restricted solely to forests or hospital settings. School is another setting where the benefits of nature are largely palpable: green spaces and views near schools have been shown to improve cognitive development in children (Schertz & Berman, 2019). Additionally, students who looked at a green roof for as short as 40 seconds showed improved attention spans and performance (Lee et al., 2015). Attention is a limited resource that can be “used up” throughout the day. However, the kind of attention that nature elicits seems to replenish one’s focus and improve cognitive performance. According to the Attention Restoration Theory (ART) developed in the 1980s, exposure to nature restores the ability to concentrate and suppress distraction (Kaplan, 1995). From sunsets to the movement of leaves in the wind, nature presents “soft fascinations” that spare room for—even enhance—other directed thoughts (Kaplan, 1995).
The psychological changes following exposure to nature are not driven by mood, but by different modes of sensory processing. Fractal geometry is one visual feature that could explain the benefits of nature and our intrinsic attraction for it. Fractals, or patterns of similar shapes that repeat at every scale, are found everywhere in nature: edges of clouds, coastlines, and tree branches to name a few. Upon tracking the brain waves of subjects exposed to different images, a study deduced that the psychological benefits of nature may partly come from its fractal properties. The researchers found that the closer the image was to fractals found in nature, the greater the viewer’s alpha activity was, which is associated with a relaxed and attentive state (Hägerhäll et al., 2015). Essentially, the balanced mix of randomness and predictability may explain why nature is so compelling and relaxing to look at. Through fractals, the beauty of nature can be traced back to mathematical patterns and how the brain processes them.
Other sensory cues that are important in our perception of nature include the density of straight and curved lines, average color saturation, and hue diversity. For example, environments perceived as more natural—and therefore, potentially beneficial to the psyche—contain fewer straight edges and less color saturation (Berman et al., 2014), features that starkly differ from those of urban environments with straight-edged skyscrapers and flashing billboards. It is not surprising that the sights of nature restore our attention while urban stimuli consume it. Whereas scenes of nature passively support the primary task at hand, urbanscapes actively call for engagement by overwhelming our visual processors.
In a world that capitalizes on human attention, we must judiciously choose what to consume and surround ourselves with. With more than half of the world population living in urban environments, humanity is progressively losing touch with nature. The lush greenery, sunlight, and cool breezes that we enjoy do more for us than we realize. Given its psychological and physiological benefits, it is important to appreciate and protect nature, the ultimate life-giver that replenishes and heals us.
About the Author
Bella Kim is a freshman at Harvard College concentrating in Neuroscience with a secondary in Music.
References
Berman, M. G., Hout, M. C., Kardan, O., Hunter, M. C. R., Yourganov, G., Henderson, J. M.,
Hanayik, T., Karimi, H., & Jonides, J. (2014). The perception of naturalness correlates with low-level visual features of environmental scenes. PLoS ONE, 9(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114572
Chun, M. H., Chang, M. C., & Lee, S. J. (2017). The effects of forest therapy on depression and
anxiety in patients with chronic stroke. The International journal of neuroscience, 127(3), 199–203. https://doi.org/10.3109/00207454.2016.1170015
Franklin, D. (2012, March 1). How hospital gardens help patients heal. Scientific American.
Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nature-that-nurtures/
Hagerhall, C. M., Laike, T., Küller, M., Marcheschi, E., Boydston, C., & Taylor, R. P. (2015).
Human physiological benefits of viewing nature: EEG responses to exact and statistical fractal patterns. Nonlinear dynamics, psychology, and life sciences, 19(1), 1–12.
Hansen, M. M., Jones, R., & Tocchini, K. (2017). Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) and Nature
Therapy: A State-of-the-Art Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(8), 851. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080851
Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal
of Environmental Psychology, 15(3), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2
Lee, K. E., Williams, K. J. H., Sargent, L. D., Williams, N. S. G., & Johnson, K. A. (2015).
40-second green roof views sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention restoration. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 182–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.04.003
Schertz, K. E., & Berman, M. G. (2019). Understanding nature and its cognitive benefits.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(5), 496–502. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419854100
We often take nature for granted without realizing its health and cognitive benefits, many of which have surfaced recently. Today, scientific and medical communities harness the physiological and psychological benefits of nature to help patients recover from brain injury and improve mental health. For example, forest therapy, or guided recreational sessions in forests, was found to be an effective rehabilitation strategy that reduces depression and anxiety in stroke patients (Chun et al., 2017). Forest therapy is a practice inspired by shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, that began in Japan as a response to the technological boom in the 1980s (Hansen et al., 2017). Especially when pharmacological interventions are ineffective or unavailable, nature-based therapies present another possibility.
The practice of nature therapy is not restricted solely to forests or hospital settings. School is another setting where the benefits of nature are largely palpable: green spaces and views near schools have been shown to improve cognitive development in children (Schertz & Berman, 2019). Additionally, students who looked at a green roof for as short as 40 seconds showed improved attention spans and performance (Lee et al., 2015). Attention is a limited resource that can be “used up” throughout the day. However, the kind of attention that nature elicits seems to replenish one’s focus and improve cognitive performance. According to the Attention Restoration Theory (ART) developed in the 1980s, exposure to nature restores the ability to concentrate and suppress distraction (Kaplan, 1995). From sunsets to the movement of leaves in the wind, nature presents “soft fascinations” that spare room for—even enhance—other directed thoughts (Kaplan, 1995).
The psychological changes following exposure to nature are not driven by mood, but by different modes of sensory processing. Fractal geometry is one visual feature that could explain the benefits of nature and our intrinsic attraction for it. Fractals, or patterns of similar shapes that repeat at every scale, are found everywhere in nature: edges of clouds, coastlines, and tree branches to name a few. Upon tracking the brain waves of subjects exposed to different images, a study deduced that the psychological benefits of nature may partly come from its fractal properties. The researchers found that the closer the image was to fractals found in nature, the greater the viewer’s alpha activity was, which is associated with a relaxed and attentive state (Hägerhäll et al., 2015). Essentially, the balanced mix of randomness and predictability may explain why nature is so compelling and relaxing to look at. Through fractals, the beauty of nature can be traced back to mathematical patterns and how the brain processes them.
Other sensory cues that are important in our perception of nature include the density of straight and curved lines, average color saturation, and hue diversity. For example, environments perceived as more natural—and therefore, potentially beneficial to the psyche—contain fewer straight edges and less color saturation (Berman et al., 2014), features that starkly differ from those of urban environments with straight-edged skyscrapers and flashing billboards. It is not surprising that the sights of nature restore our attention while urban stimuli consume it. Whereas scenes of nature passively support the primary task at hand, urbanscapes actively call for engagement by overwhelming our visual processors.
In a world that capitalizes on human attention, we must judiciously choose what to consume and surround ourselves with. With more than half of the world population living in urban environments, humanity is progressively losing touch with nature. The lush greenery, sunlight, and cool breezes that we enjoy do more for us than we realize. Given its psychological and physiological benefits, it is important to appreciate and protect nature, the ultimate life-giver that replenishes and heals us.
About the Author
Bella Kim is a freshman at Harvard College concentrating in Neuroscience with a secondary in Music.
References
Berman, M. G., Hout, M. C., Kardan, O., Hunter, M. C. R., Yourganov, G., Henderson, J. M.,
Hanayik, T., Karimi, H., & Jonides, J. (2014). The perception of naturalness correlates with low-level visual features of environmental scenes. PLoS ONE, 9(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114572
Chun, M. H., Chang, M. C., & Lee, S. J. (2017). The effects of forest therapy on depression and
anxiety in patients with chronic stroke. The International journal of neuroscience, 127(3), 199–203. https://doi.org/10.3109/00207454.2016.1170015
Franklin, D. (2012, March 1). How hospital gardens help patients heal. Scientific American.
Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nature-that-nurtures/
Hagerhall, C. M., Laike, T., Küller, M., Marcheschi, E., Boydston, C., & Taylor, R. P. (2015).
Human physiological benefits of viewing nature: EEG responses to exact and statistical fractal patterns. Nonlinear dynamics, psychology, and life sciences, 19(1), 1–12.
Hansen, M. M., Jones, R., & Tocchini, K. (2017). Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) and Nature
Therapy: A State-of-the-Art Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(8), 851. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080851
Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal
of Environmental Psychology, 15(3), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2
Lee, K. E., Williams, K. J. H., Sargent, L. D., Williams, N. S. G., & Johnson, K. A. (2015).
40-second green roof views sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention restoration. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 182–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.04.003
Schertz, K. E., & Berman, M. G. (2019). Understanding nature and its cognitive benefits.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(5), 496–502. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419854100
