Could exercising outdoors give a bigger brain boost?
BOSTON - It is well known that exercise improves cognitive function as does time spent in natural outdoor environments. Now a new study published in Nature suggests combining the two could result in a bigger brain boost than either alone.
Researchers studied the brains of 30 participants before and after brief indoor and outdoor walks and found the outdoor group showed better working memory and concentration than the indoor group.
They say walking in a park or green space is better than walking on a city block. That's because the natural world has a calming effect, reducing distracting chatter in the mind and allowing the brain to reset so it can concentrate better.
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