Neurons Need Nature - May 2021

Neurons Need Nature

8 Awesome Things that Happen to Your Brain in the Wild Outside

Fall in Love

Deep down we are all in love with nature, we just might need to get out and woo the wild world a little more to really feel the affection. The term ‘biophilia’ captures our innate love of life and the natural world. Recently acclaimed books like ‘The Nature Fix’ and ‘The Biophilia Effect’ explain the science of revisiting the healing bond between the human mind, body, and the natural world we are a part of.

Even Jung believed last century that we have ‘lost emotional participation in natural events, that we have lost our bush-soul’ and that we suffer psychologically as a result. The act of nurturing love actually deactivates brain activity in regions for negative emotions, social judgement, and overthinking. There is a tree out there that has been waiting 100 years for your perfect embrace, get out there and feel the love.

Brighten Up

When we watch Dr Stephen Ilardi illuminate the 6 things we can do to cure depression without drugs, we realise half of them can be done outside. Light exposure is particularly important. We can’t live without lux. Our eyes and brains are actually designed to work outside, where natural light is over 100 times brighter than a brightly lit room. It takes the types of light only found outside to trigger important responses in our brains that control our body clocks and our mood. Studies investigating photoreceptors, serotonin, vitamin D, melatonin and their involvement in human wellbeing all come back to the light.

Chill Out

What holiday photo would you be likely to like more?

One of a friend lazily lying on a grassy knoll in New Zealand - stretched out, sun dappled, eyes closed in peaceful surrender, or
The same friend jammed into a peak hour train in a hazy concrete underground looking frightened and confused.

In neuroscience terms: a. the natural like, is the most likely because we know there are some cool things happening in your brain even when you just look at images of nature. Your eyes and visual cortex are more attracted to the detail and natural geometry of your friend in the green grass; mirror neurons (the brain cells that pay close attention to other people) start to fire – because your friend looks blissfully chilled out you might feel a wave of relaxation too; and just gazing at the image of nature itself can lower your stress levels by putting you calmly in the restorative ‘rest and digest’ (parasympathetic) part of your nervous system. Just imagine how chillaxed you’d be actually lying on that knoll yourself…

Get Gutsy

There are a hundred trillion teeny tiny friends of yours that live in the air you breathe, the fresh food you eat and the earth you garden in. They ‘love your guts’. They want to get to know you better and grow with you. They are your microbiome. The trending book Brain Maker outlines the widely under recognized power of miniscule microbes to directly influence the health of your body and brain. The diverse human microbiome has a role in: immunity; inflammation; metabolism; and the function of your central nervous system. Your gut and your brain communicate in so many ways. Your community of microscopic friends are a vital part of yourself to consider when you think of the plethora of diseases that stem from these systems – including Alzheimer’s, Depression and Obesity. Go get all the dirt and make some new mates.

Stay Strong

Nature is the best free playground. It is a wonderful teacher, wisely designed for just the right amount of risk, challenge and discovery. Children given opportunities for nature play can demonstrate improved physical development including fitness, balance and coordination, along with positive development of the cognitive aspects of play including imagination and dramatic play. Where risk was once removed from play spaces it is now being reintroduced. There is greater understanding that when left to their own instinctive devices often children will attempt new adventures within a realistic scope of challenge, and if it is fun and rewarding enough they will persist until they master it in some way. They’ll come back dirty, maybe a little bit scuffed, and with a big broad smile.

Regenerate

Movements within WWF and Rewilding Global, call out for volunteers to help replant the planet. While we are out gardening, planting trees or collecting plastics there may be some amazing regeneration happening in our brains. Purposeful exercise is a potent combination for triggering neurogenesis (making new brain cells) and improvements in learning and memory related to increased BDNF. When we are so essentially connected it is little wonder that we both benefit from helping one another.

Realise your dreams

Real inspiration strikes, most often, when you are not doggedly plugging away at the dream behind your desk. You need ‘the breath of fresh air’ before the big ‘ah ha’s!’ and ‘oh yeah’s!’. There is a chance found quote from a doctor in a medical newsletter where he captures his own personal moment where inspiration struck - on top of a hill, on a walk, with the morning mist lifting to bright autumn sunshine. Dr Keith Ison writes, ‘Taking the time to look, helps me see things differently, and can lead to moments of inspiration and creativity. Taken to a vantage point we didn’t even know existed, [we can] open up a new vision and a deeper understanding.’ Inspiration feels so powerful because at its peak your brain is rapidly reorganising itself trying to keep up with you as your astounding ideas are pouring out.

Experience AWE-some

Have you ever reached the summit of a hike and sighed as you look out over the landscape?

Have you ever stood among giant trees and had ‘a moment’?

Ever lost yourself in the breathtaking star-studded night sky?

What you are experiencing there is awe. It’s the origin emotion of the word awesome. It happens in vast environments, and they are the environments you find outside. When you are overwhelmed by this magnificent feeling your brain is increasing connections. Brain activity surges between the parts responsible for organising your thoughts about what you think of the world (MTG), and its connection to areas that control reward (or feel good) processes to do with the appreciation of beauty and how you see yourself in the world (ACC/PCC and SMG). It is big stuff. It is truly awesome and it feels spectacular. The Greater Good Science Centre provides a magical guided introduction to cultivating this feeling through taking an awe walk you could use today.

If you are interested in finding out more about how your interaction with the wild outside impacts your own brain’s structure and function, The Perth Brain Centre welcomes all awesome natural wonders – that’s YOU! You can watch, read, call or email, to find out more today.

About the author - Ms Emily Goss (Occupational Therapist, Senior Clinician, The Perth Brain Centre).