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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Evidence backing the idea that greenspace is good for your mental and physical health keeps emerging. A new study shows that exposure to greenery may improve your processing speed, attention, and overall cognitive function. And it could be a way to help entire populations.
Your mind's thinking power (cognitive function) is a strong predictor of whether you'll develop dementia later in life. The new study led by Boston University School of Public Health shows that increasing greenspace in residential areas could help improve cognition function in middle-aged women. And that the boost might be the result of a reduction in depression, which is a risk factor for dementia.
“Some of the primary ways that nature may improve health is by helping people recover from psychological stress and by encouraging people to be outside socializing with friends, both of which boost mental health,” says Dr. Marcia Pescador Jimenez, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston public health school. “This study is among the few to provide evidence that greenspace may benefit cognitive function in older ages. Our findings suggest that greenspace should be investigated as a potential population-level approach to improve cognitive function.”
So by adding greenery — such as trees, grass and other vegetation — to neighborhoods and cities, people's brains may get a cognitive boost.
The study is published in JAMA Network Open.
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