Effects of the Visual Exercise Environments on Cognitive Directed Attention, Energy Expenditure and Perceived Exertion

Exercising is good for the brain but exercising outside is potentially better

It is well known that exercise increases cognitive function. However, the environment in which the exercise is performed may be just as important as the exercise itself. Time spent in natural outdoor environments has been found to lead to increases in cognition similar to those resulting from acute exercise. Therefore, the benefits of both exercise and nature exposure suggest an additive impact on brain function when both factors are combined. This raises the question: what is the interaction between acute exercise and environment on cognition? We answered this question using electroencephalography to probe cognitive function using the oddball task before and after brief indoor and outdoor walks on 30 participants (average 21 years old, 95% CI [20, 22]). Our results demonstrate improved performance and an increase in the amplitude of the P300, an event-related neural response commonly associated with attention and working memory, following a 15-min walk outside; a result not seen following a 15-min walk inside. Importantly, this finding indicates that the environment may play a more substantial role in increasing cognitive function such as attention than exercise, at least in terms of acute exercise (i.e., a brief walk). With the world's growing urbanization and the associated increase in sedentary time indoors, a deeper understanding of how these factors interact and influence cognition may be critical to combat adverse health effects.

Does Bird Diversity Affect Public Mental Health in Urban Mountain Parks?-A Case Study in Fuzhou City, China

Intensified urbanization has caused a linear decline in the quality of urban biodiversity and indirectly harms our current human settlement environment. Urban mountain parks provide a refuge for the animals and plants and play a vital role in satisfying residents’ lives. At present, few studies are focusing on the impact of biodiversity on human mental health benefits of urban mountain parks in high-density construction areas along the coast of the Eastern Hemisphere. Here, we examined the relationship between bird abundance, Shannon diversity, Simpson diversity, and Richness and momentary mental health (positive, negative, and anxiety) in urban mountain parks. The timed species counts method was used to conduct three surveys of birds in urban mountain parks, and linear regression was performed on the relationship between bird diversity and mental health among sites. According to the regression model results, we found no significant correlation in any disturbance levels. As urban mountain parks are an essential part of the human settlement environment, how to improve the biodiversity and mental health of urban mountain parks is one of the focuses of research on biodiversity well-being in the future. Urban planning authorities and public mental health researchers should pay attention to the importance of biodiversity in urban development and consider how to realize the beautiful vision of the harmonious coexistence of humans, animals, plants, and the environment in which we live.

Simulating the Benefits of Nature Exposure on Cognitive Performance in Virtual Reality: A Window into Possibilities for Education and Cognitive Health

Purpose: This one-group pretest−posttest, designed within a subject study, looks to compare the effects of an outdoor nature walk (ONW) to those of a virtual nature walk (VRW) on memory and cognitive function. Implications are discussed for education as well as for the world of virtual reality. Methods: Sixty-four healthy university students were asked to complete an ONW and a VRW, which was created using 3D video of the same nature trail used for the ONW. The VRW condition involved a five-minute walk on a treadmill, while wearing a virtual reality mask (Oculus, San Francisco, USA) that projected a previously recorded three-dimensional capture of the same nature walk they experienced outdoors. Both experimental conditions lasted approximately 5 min and were counterbalanced between participants. A Digit Span Test (Digit) for working memory and a Trail Test (TMT) for executive function were administered to all study participants, immediately before and after each type of walk. Results: For executive function testing (Trail Making Test), our results demonstrate that both the ONW and VRW condition improved the TMT time, when compared to a baseline (ONW 37.06 ± 1.31 s vs. 31.75 ± 1.07 s, p < 0.01 and VRW 36.19 ± 1.18 s vs. 30.69 ± 1.11 s, p < 0.01). There was no significant difference between the ONW and VRW groups. Similarly, for the Digit memory task, both conditions improved compared to the baseline (ONW 54.30 ± 3.01 vs. 68.4 ± 2.66, p < 0.01 and VRW 58.1 ± 3.10 vs. 67.4 ± 2.72, p < 0.01). There was a difference at the baseline between the ONW and VRW conditions (54.3 ± 3.01 vs. 58.1 ± 3.10, p < 0.01), but this baseline difference in memory performance was no longer significant post exercise, between groups at follow-up (68.4 ± 2.66 vs. 67.4 ± 2.72, p < 0.08). Conclusions: Our results suggest that both a virtual reality protocol and a nature walk can have positive outcomes on memory and executive function in younger adults.

Benefits to Performance and Well-Being of Nature-Based Exercise: A Critical Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Prior reviews point to the superior benefits of exercising in nature vs in conventional indoor venues, particularly in terms of well-being. However, physical exercise performance, neither in terms of efficacy nor efficiency, has not been sufficiently addressed by past reviews of this topic. Therefore, we conducted both a systematic review and meta-analysis of the experimental literature that relates to differences in exercise performance and well-being between exercising in nature and in conventional indoor venues. Forty-nine relevant studies─the outcome data of which were used for the systematic review─were located within the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases. The meta-analyses, using data from twenty-four of the relevant studies, revealed no significant overall environmental effect on task performance efficacy outcomes (p = 0.100). For nature-based exercise, however, marginally positive cognitive performance outcomes (p = 0.059), lower ratings of perceived exhaustion (p = 0.001), and higher levels of vigor (p = 0.017) were observed, indicating higher performance efficiency. As for the effects of environment on well-being, positive affect was significantly higher for nature-based exercise (p = 0.000), while perceived stress was significantly higher for indoor exercise (p = 0.032). These results must, however, be interpreted with caution. High levels of bias and between-study heterogeneity were observed. Nonetheless, given several noticeable trends in the results, it may be that exercising in nature enhances the efficiency of exercise task performance to a greater extent than does indoor exercise.

The Role of Blue and Green Exercise in Planetary Health and Well-Being

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that health and well-being are essential to achieving the United Nations (UN) Development Agenda 2030, which includes the goal of empowering people to adopt active lifestyles while protecting the planet’s health. This article aims at exploring how exercise performed in different natural settings can contribute to improving health and to a more sustainable world. We define “exercise” as a form of physical activity undertaken to increase fitness, health, and well-being, and argue for the importance of “green” and “blue” exercise as forms of physical activity that are associated with the protection and sustainability of natural settings and the promotion of planetary health. Blue and green exercise should become a focus of public policies, especially when outdoor activities are being identified as fundamental for the promotion of mental, physical, social, and spiritual health. The current paper intends to raise the awareness of political decision-makers and professionals in education, environment, and heath sectors for the potential of green and blue exercise as specific exercise practices that are healthy, joyful, and environmentally friendly.

Natural Is Not Always Better: The Varied Effects of a Natural Environment and Exercise on Affect and Cognition

The Attention Restoration Theory (ART) has been widely cited to account for beneficial effects of natural environments on affect and attention. However, the effects of environment and exercise are not consistent. In a within-subjects design, participants completed affective and cognitive measures that varied in attentional demands (memory, working memory, and executive function) both before and after exercise in a natural and indoor environment. Contrary to the hypotheses, a natural environment resulted in lower positive affect and no difference in negative affect compared to an indoor environment. A natural environment resulted in the most improvement for cognitive tasks that required moderate attentional demand: Trail Making Test A and Digit Span Forwards. As predicted, exercise resulted in improved affect and improved executive function (Trail Making Test B). There were no interactions between environment and exercise. These results suggest that ART cannot fully explain the influence of environment on affect and cognition.

Effects of Acute Visual Stimulation Exercise on Attention Processes: An ERP Study

BACKGROUNDS

It remains to be determined whether visual stimuli during exercise differentially influence the attention process. The purpose of the present study was to examine if different color stimuli during aerobic exercise are associated with different attention processes.

METHODS

22 college students completed a four 30-min running session during the presentation of different color stimuli (blue, green, red, and yellow) and without color stimulus on separate visits. The Kanizsa triangle task was administrated before and immediately after exercise to assess the attention process. Behavioral performance (accuracy and response time (RT)) and event-related potential (P2, N2b and P3a) were recorded during the test.

RESULTS

Valid/invalid cue RT during the Kaniza test performance was significantly faster following the presentation of color stimuli during treadmill exercise compared to the seated rest. During exercise, these changes were larger after green and yellow stimuli than red in invalid cue RT. P2, N2b and P3a amplitudes of green were significantly larger than the other colors for both valid and invalid cues. Red color showed the lowest P2 and P3a amplitudes for both valid and invalid cues among colors.

CONCLUSION

The distinctive neurocognitive changes during aerobic exercise suggest different effects of color stimuli on visual search attention, attention capture, attentional orienting and processing speed. This study will be a first step to understand the optimal environmental setting during exercise for subsequent improvements in the attention process.

The effect of the visual exercise environment on the response to psychological stress: a pilot study

Background: Performing physical activity whilst exposed to nature can improve health. However, there is little evidence of its impact on stress outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of the visual exercise environment on the response to a psychosocial stressor. Methods: Eighteen participants were randomized to one of three conditions: i. nature; ii. built or; iii. control condition. Participants exercised for 30 min on a treadmill at 50% of their VO₂max whilst viewing a video of either a natural or built environment or a blank screen. Following the exercise, participants completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a standardized laboratory stressor. Salivary samples were collected before, during and after the TSST to calculate cortisol reactivity and recovery. Results: One-way ANOVA revealed a significant effect of viewing condition on cortisol reactivity [F _{(2, 11)} = 4.686, p = .034; n ² _p  = .460]; with significantly lower reactivity in the built compared to the nature condition (p = .027, d = 1.73). There was no effect of condition on cortisol recovery (p = .137; n ² _p = .257). Conclusions: In the context of the adverse health impact of lower (i.e., blunted) cortisol responding, these findings could indicate a negative impact of the built environment on stress responses.

Affective Outcomes of Group versus Lone Green Exercise Participation

'Green exercise' (being physically active within a natural environment) research has examined the influence of environmental setting on health and wellbeing-related exercise outcomes. However, it is not known whether social exercise settings influence green exercise-associated changes in mood, self-esteem, and connection to nature. This study directly compared outcomes of participating in green exercise alone compared to in a group. Using repeated measures, counterbalanced and randomized-crossover design, participants (n = 40) completed two 3 km runs around sports fields. These fields had a relatively flat grass terrain, predominant view of trees, and open grassland. On one occasion participants ran alone and on the other they ran in a group of 4-5 participants. Questionnaire measures of mood, self-esteem, and connection to nature were completed immediately pre- and post-run. Across all of the measures, two-way mixed ANOVAs found that there were statistically significant effects for time but not for time-by-condition interactions. The simplest interpretation of this finding is that social setting does not influence individuals' attainment of the psychological outcomes of green exercise participation. However, we discuss the possibility that more complex processes might underpin this finding.

Psychosocial and Physiological Health Outcomes of Green Exercise in Children and Adolescents-A Systematic Review

Both physical activity (PA) and nature exposure are associated with several youth health benefits. However, the health outcomes when being physically active in nature, called Green Exercise (GE), are less clear. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review was to provide an overview of the psychosocial and physiological outcomes of GE in children and adolescents and to outline future GE research directions. The PRISMA statement guided the review. Web of Science, PubMed, ERIC, and APA PsychNET were systematically searched in February 2019, including studies between 2000 and 2019. Fourteen of 1175 identified publications were included, which reported 15 different psychosocial and six different physiological outcomes, with some studies reporting more than one outcome. For 16 outcomes, studies reported either similar or no effects for both GE and comparison groups. For six outcomes, studies reported stronger effects for GE, for three outcomes, studies reported stronger effects in the comparison group. Evidence was rated as weak, using the EPHPP tool. Thus, GE does not have deleterious effects for children and adolescents compared to PA in other settings. GE might be beneficial; however, due to the study's heterogeneity and quality, it is premature to make definite conclusions. Future research should build the quality of evidence for GE, use more rigorous research designs, and investigate the underlying effects and mechanisms of GE.

Does the Mode of Exercise Influence the Benefits Obtained by Green Exercise?

Green exercise studies have tended to use walking as a modality of exercise to establish benefits to mental health. Whether green exercise benefits translate into different forms of green exercise has been deemed an important research gap. A mixed-methods study design was used to compare psychological responses between two forms of green exercise; golf and walking. A total of 20 participants (10 in each group), with a range of ages and experience were recruited to take part in the study. Participants in the walking condition exhibited significantly greater levels of dissociative cognitions than golf condition participants. Consequently, only the walking condition significantly improved in a directed attention test. Results from the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory questionnaire found the walking condition demonstrated increases in all four subscales, whereas the golf condition showed no significant improvements. Based on the findings from the qualitative analysis, distinct differences were seen with regards to the perception of the environment. Participants in the golf condition noted natural elements as obstacles to effective performance, whereas the walking group noted natural stimuli as evoking positive feelings. In agreement with the Attention Restoration Theory, the current study demonstrates that the benefits of green exercise are somewhat reduced when greater levels of directed attention towards the activity are exhibited during green exercise.

Positive Effects of Nature on Cognitive Performance Across Multiple Experiments: Test Order but Not Affect Modulates the Cognitive Effects

Interactions with natural environments and nature-related stimuli have been found to be beneficial to cognitive performance, in particular on executive cognitive tasks with high demands on directed attention processes. However, results vary across different studies. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the effects of nature vs. urban environments on cognitive performance across all of our published and new/unpublished studies testing the effects of different interactions with nature vs. urban/built control environments, on an executive-functioning test with high demands on directed attention—the backwards digit span (BDS) task. Specific aims in this study were to: (1) evaluate the effect of nature vs. urban environment interactions on BDS across different exposure types (e.g., real-world vs. artificial environments/stimuli); (2) disentangle the effects of testing order (i.e., effects caused by the order in which experimental conditions are administered) from the effects of the environment interactions, and (3) test the (mediating) role of affective changes on BDS performance. To this end, data from 13 experiments are presented, and pooled data-analyses are performed. Results from the pooled data-analyses (N = 528 participants) showed significant time-by-environment interactions with beneficial effects of nature compared to urban environments on BDS performance. There were also clear interactions with the order in which environment conditions were tested. Specifically, there were practice effects across environment conditions in first sessions. Importantly, after parceling out initial practice effects, the positive effects of nature compared to urban interactions on BDS performance were magnified. Changes in positive or negative affect did not mediate the beneficial effects of nature on BDS performance. These results are discussed in relation to the findings of other studies identified in the literature. Uncontrolled and confounding order effects (i.e., effects due to the order of experimental conditions, rather than the treatment conditions) may explain some of the inconsistent findings across studies in the literature on nature effects on cognitive performance. In all, these results highlight the robustness of the effects of natural environments on cognition, particularly when confounding order effects have been considered, and provide a more nuanced account of when a nature intervention will be most effective.

The Effects of Green Exercise on Physical and Mental Wellbeing: A Systematic Review

We aimed to examine the evidence for the proposed additive effect of exercise in the presence of nature (green exercise) by systematically reviewing studies that investigated the effects of outdoor or virtual green exercise compared with indoor exercise. Our review updates an earlier review, whose searches were conducted in April 2010. Trials were eligible if: (a) participants in an outdoor or virtual exercise condition were exposed to views of nature (green exercise); (b) green exercise was compared with indoor exercise with no exposure to nature; (c) included an outcome related to physical or mental health; (d) used comparative or crossover trial design. We searched the following databases from 1st January 2010 to 28th June 2018: PubMed, CENTRAL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, GreenFile, and Sports DISCUS. We assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane “risk of bias” tool. Where possible we conducted a meta-analysis using the inverse variance random-effects method, and where this approach was not possible we presented the results qualitatively and in harvest plots. We identified 28 eligible trials. In a meta-analysis of just three longitudinal trials, the only statistical finding was slightly lower post-intervention perceived exertion with green versus indoor exercise (mean difference: −1.02; 95% confidence intervals: −1.88, −0.16). Compared with indoor exercise, acute bouts of outdoor green exercise may favorably influence affective valence and enjoyment, but not emotion, perceived exertion, exercise intensity, and biological markers. No other consistent statistical differences were observed, apart from a higher enjoyment of outdoor green versus virtual green exercise. We found a high risk of bias across trials and an overall low quality of evidence. In conclusion, there was limited evidence to support the view that green exercise offers superior benefits to exercise without exposure to nature. The low quality of evidence prohibits clear interpretation of trial findings. Future robust and rigorously designed trials are needed to evaluate the effects of long-term and multiple-bout exposure to nature during exercise compared with exercise indoors.

Can Simulated Green Exercise Improve Recovery From Acute Mental Stress?

This exploratory study enhances previous research into green exercise and addresses a gap in the research by exploring the contribution of individual and combined senses in the recovery of mood and stress after a psychological stressor, whilst rigorously controlling exercise intensity. The hypotheses were: (i) recovery of mood and stress from a state of psychological stress would be greater following simulated green exercise compared to rest, (ii) green exercise would facilitate better recovery than exercise alone, (iii) these effects would remain 10 min following intervention, and (iv) visual stimuli alone would enhance recovery from a state of psychological stress compared to sound. Fifty participants were randomly assigned to one of five groups: REST, exercise, exercise with nature sounds, exercise with nature visual and exercise with nature sound and visual. An initial visit to obtain predicted peak power output values and to familiarize participants with the equipment being used was followed by a second visit, where participants experienced one test condition. Baseline measures of heart rate, blood pressure, total mood disturbance (TMD), and perceived stress were taken, before participants completed a stressor based on the Trier Social Stress test. Measures of heart rate and blood pressure were recorded in the last 30 s of the stressor to assess efficacy of the stressor. Immediately post stressor, measures of mood and perceived stress were taken followed by the intervention assigned (one of five described above). Measures of mood and perceived stress were taken again immediately post intervention and 10 min post intervention. Results showed that green exercise improved mood and stress scores more than exercise alone or REST. For both TMD and perceived stress, improvements in all simulated nature conditions were significantly improved compared to REST or exercise alone immediately post intervention. There were no significant changes 10 min post intervention in either mood or perceived stress compared to immediately post intervention values in any of the groups. This study suggests that environmental exercise settings including nature sounds, visual or both combined should be considered as important in the use of exercise as a therapeutic activity or recovery from acute psychological stress.

Cognitive Strategies and Natural Environments Interact in Influencing Executive Function

Exposure to natural environments and the adoption of specific cognitive strategies are each claimed to have a direct influence on executive mental functioning. Here we manipulate both factors to help determine whether they draw on common cognitive resources. Three experiments investigated links between environmental effects (nature vs. urban video tours) and strategic effects (active vs. passive instructional approaches to the task). Each experiment used a pretest-posttest design and assessed executive mental functioning using a backward digit span task and Raven's progressive matrices. Experiment 1 manipulated participants' cognitive strategy through explicit instructions in order to establish a link between cognitive strategy and executive mental functioning. Experiment 2 used a pair of 10-min video tours (urban, nature) to examine the relationship between environmental exposure and executive mental function on the same tasks, replicating previous findings with the backward digit span task and extended them to a new task (i.e., Raven's progressive matrices). In Experiment 3, these two manipulations were combined to explore the relations between them. The results showed that the nature video tour attenuated the influence of task instructions relative to the urban video tour. An interaction between environmental video exposure and cognitive strategy was found, in that effects of cognitive strategy on executive function were smaller in the nature video condition than in the urban video condition. This suggests that brief exposure to nature had a direct positive influence on executive mental functioning.

Physical and Emotional Benefits of Different Exercise Environments Designed for Treadmill Running

(1) Background: Green physical activity promotes physical health and mental wellbeing and interesting questions concern effects of this information on designing indoor exercise environments. This study examined the physical and emotional effects of different nature-based environments designed for indoor treadmill running; (2) Methods: In a counterbalanced experimental design, 30 participants performed three, twenty-minute treadmill runs at a self-selected pace while viewing either a static nature image, a dynamic nature image or self-selected entertainment. Distance ran, heart rate (HR) and five pre-and post-exercise emotional states were measured; (3) Results: Participants ran farther, and with higher HRs, with self-selected entertainment compared to the two nature-based environment designs. Participants attained lowered anger, dejection, anxiety and increased excitement post exercise in all of the designed environments. Happiness increased during the two nature-based environment designs compared with self-selected entertainment; (4) Conclusions: Self-selected entertainment encouraged greater physical performances whereas running in nature-based exercise environments elicited greater happiness immediately after running.

The relationships between urban parks, residents' physical activity, and mental health benefits: A case study from Beijing, China

The role of urban parks in improving public health has been analyzed in the context of urban design in developed countries, but has seldom been considered in developing countries such as China. Previous studies have found positive correlations between parks and residents' physical activity and mental health status. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate respondents' physical activity status and its relationship with urban parks. The impact of different activities engaged in during park use on positive mental health was examined. The average physical activity level of the sample was 92.7 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. Park users were more active in all forms of physical activity, except transport walking, than non-users. The presence of a park within 500 m from home and park use were significantly associated with total physical activity. Physical activity in parks significantly restored visitors' moods and energy levels, and interaction with nature brought mental health benefits in terms of relaxation and self-perceived confidence. Overall, this study found a positive correlation of urban parks with public physical activity and positive mental health benefits. However, further research is needed to improve the understanding of this relationship in the context of China.

Affective outcomes during and after high-intensity exercise in outdoor green and indoor gym settings

Outdoor exercise settings promote greater psychological well-being than synthetic equivalents, although the influence of the exercise context has not been investigated at high exercise intensities. This study compared the psychological effects of high-intensity exercise in outdoor green and indoor gym settings in 22 adult runners using a randomized repeated measures design. Affect and perceived exertion were assessed before, during, and after a 6000-m run with the second half completed at maximum effort. Perceived exertion and activation increased in a progressive manner from baseline to 6000 m, and decreased during the 10-min recovery post-run. Non-significant reductions in affective valence were observed between 3000 and 6000 m, followed by a significant increase post-run. Outcomes did not differ at any time point between the settings. This study suggested that regular runners experience positive affective responses during and after high-intensity exercise in both a natural outdoor environment and an indoor gym.

Influences of Green Outdoors versus Indoors Environmental Settings on Psychological and Social Outcomes of Controlled Exercise

This study addressed a methodological gap by comparing psychological and social outcomes of exercise in green outdoors versus built indoors settings, whilst rigorously controlling exercise mode and intensity. The hypotheses were that greater improvements or more desirable values for directed attention, mood, perceived exertion, social interaction time, intention for future exercise behaviour and enjoyment would be associated with outdoors compared to indoors exercise. Following a baseline session, paired participants completed two conditions of 15 min of cycling on an ergometer placed outside in a natural environment and inside in a laboratory setting in a randomized, counter-balanced order. At pre- and post-exercise, directed attention was measured with the digit span backwards task, and mood was assessed with the Profile of Mood States. During the exercise session, visual and verbal interactions were recorded by means of experimenter observations. After each exercise session, participants provided self-reports of their enjoyment of the exercise, perceived exertion and intention for future exercise in the same environment. Social interaction time was significantly greater during outdoors exercise versus indoors; on average, participants engaged in three minutes more social interaction during exercise outdoors compared to indoors. Social interaction time significantly predicted intention for future exercise in the outdoors condition, but did not in the indoor condition. There was a significant time by condition interaction for directed attention. Scores worsened in the indoors condition, but improved in the outdoors condition. There was no statistically-significant time by condition interaction for mood and no significant difference between conditions for either perceived exertion or intention. Taken together, these findings show that exercise in a natural environment may promote directed attention and social interactions, which may positively influence future exercise intentions.

A Lunchtime Walk in Nature Enhances Restoration of Autonomic Control during Night-Time Sleep: Results from a Preliminary Study

Walking within nature (Green Exercise) has been shown to immediately enhance mental well-being but less is known about the impact on physiology and longer lasting effects. Heart rate variability (HRV) gives an indication of autonomic control of the heart, in particular vagal activity, with reduced HRV identified as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Night-time HRV allows vagal activity to be assessed whilst minimizing confounding influences of physical and mental activity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a lunchtime walk in nature increases night-time HRV. Participants (n = 13) attended on two occasions to walk a 1.8 km route through a built or a natural environment. Pace was similar between the two walks. HRV was measured during sleep using a RR interval sensor (eMotion sensor) and was assessed at 1–2 h after participants noted that they had fallen asleep. Markers for vagal activity were significantly greater after the walk in nature compared to the built walk. Lunchtime walks in nature-based environments may provide a greater restorative effect as shown by vagal activity than equivalent built walks. Nature walks may improve essential recovery during night-time sleep, potentially enhancing physiological health.