Nature Walks Fend Off Depression

Get out. As in “get outside,” because yet another study has shown that walking in nature is good for your brain. The Washington Post reports on the research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which asked 38 people with no history of mental disorder to take a walk. Half of  the participants walked for 90 minutes through a natural area near the Stanford campus, while the other half walked along a very busy road in downtown Palo Alto, Calif. The Post reports that before and after the walk, they all answered a questionnaire designed to measure their tendency toward “rumination,” a pattern of often negative, inward-directed thinking and questioning that has been tied to an increased risk of depression.  The brains of all participants were scanned before and after the walk, with particular attention to a brain region called the subgenual prefrontal cortex — which the study calls “an area that has been shown to be particularly active during the type of maladaptive, self-reflective thought and behavioral withdrawal that occurs during rumination.” Ready? The envelope please…. The Post reports that the people who did the nature walk showed a marked decrease in rumination –a good thing. They actually answered the questionnaire differently, shortly after the walk.