Your Environment Affects Your Mood

A study out of the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, evaluated how your environment affects your mood.

“Urbanization, as it is occurring all around the world, has been associated with an increase in stress-related disease and mental disorders in people living in urban environments.” Open and green spaces are the relief these people need. This happens to the brain through what is called restoration (a return to unaffected affective, cognitive and psychophysiological functioning).

The researchers used recorded electrocardiogram and impedance cardiogram signals to evaluate the brains of the 46 participants, comparing the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems in relation to buffering and recovery effects of viewing urban green and built spaces.

“Overall, our findings are consistent with a predominant role of the parasympathetic nervous system in restorative effects of viewing green space.”

For more information, read the full study.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4690962/

Razi Berry, Founder and Publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News & Review (ndnr.com) and NaturalPath (thenatpath.com), has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized and supported the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. A self-proclaimed health-food junkie and mother of two; she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees (not easy in Phoenix), laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy and yes, that is her real name.