14 DAY TRIAL // Investigators with the Baycrest Rotman Research Institute say that depressive people benefit significantly from something as simple as a walk in the park. This habit can improve their memory performances, regardless of whether they take their walks in the countryside or an urban landscape.
Together with experts from the University of Michigan and Stanford University, in the US, the Canadian team conducted this study in order to validate the Attention Restoration Theory (ART), which holds that exposure to nature makes it easier for people to concentrate and recover their well-being.
Scientists with the group were however quick to point out that simple walks in the park should not be used as a substitute for antidepressants or psychotherapy, both of which are extremely important, especially in major depression syndrome, PsychCentral reports.
The researchers also found tantalizing clues pointing towards a series of separate brain mechanisms that may underlie the cognitive and mood changes of interacting with nature. However, this link will require further investigation to establish.