Iced Blueberry Scones Recipe, Spotlight on Blueberries and Bench Scrapers, Managing Depression with Scents, and Resistance Training for Anxiety

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, first established in 1949 to increase our understanding of the vital role mental health plays in overall health and well-being and to celebrate recovery from mental illness. With all the stresses of daily living we face today, addressing mental health has never been as important. So, in addition to my recipe for scones, I’m including two different advances in mental health care that could impact how depression and anxiety are managed.

Iced Blueberry Scones

• Iced Blueberry Scones

  If you’ve ever had a store-bought scone, chances are it was dry and crumbly. My recipe is flaky yet still tender, thanks to the olive oil in the pastry flour dough. A light icing drizzle balances out the tartness of blueberries. 

  Ingredients

  For the Scones:

  • 2 cups pastry flour, plus more for the cookie sheet and shaping the dough
  • 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour 
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2/3 cup half-and-half
  • 1 extra-large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla 
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and patted dry

  For the Glaze:

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

  Directions

  Step 1

  Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle it liberally with flour.

  Step 2

  Place the 2-1/4 cups flour (pastry and whole wheat), sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, thoroughly whisk the olive oil, half-and-half, egg, and vanilla. Using a large spatula, fold in the blueberries and then the flour mixture. Be careful not to overmix, which can cause too much gluten development and a dense scone.

  Step 3

  Turn the dough out onto the parchment paper. Heavily flour your hands and use them to pat the dough into a 12-by-8-inch rectangle (do not use a rolling pin). If the dough is extremely wet, sprinkle on a tablespoon of additional flour. Use a bench scraper to help even out the edges, cut the dough into 12 triangles or squares, and then move the pieces as needed to leave about two inches between them.

  Step 4

  While the scones are cooling, mix the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice, thinning if needed with 1 tablespoon of water. Use a spoon to drizzle on the icing in a crisscross pattern.

  Step 5

  Serve warm or at room temperature. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

  Yields 12 scones

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Frozen Blueberries

Blueberries are more than delicious—they’re at the top of many healthiest-foods lists because of their amazing nutrients. Along with vitamins C and K and the mineral manganese, they’re rich in anthocyanins, which give them their blue-purple color and protect cells from damaging molecules called free radicals. Their soluble fiber helps lower blood sugar, manage blood pressure, and sweep out cholesterol, which, in turn, can lower the risk for heart disease. 

Spring is the start of blueberry season, but when fresh ones aren’t available, frozen ones make a great stand-in (it’s also smart to freeze fresh berries you grow or buy throughout the summer so that you’ll have them for next fall and winter). Bakers are often disappointed by the bleeding frozen berries can cause, creating streaks of purple or even green in the finished baked goods. This doesn’t affect taste, but here’s a quick hack to avoid it: Just before adding them to your batter, rinse the frozen berries well in cold water and then thoroughly pat them dry between layers of paper towels. Quickly fold them into the batter using just a few strokes. Keep in mind that you are rinsing away some of the berries’ healthful anthocyanins, so if the streaks don’t bother you, simply pat defrosted berries with paper towels before adding them to the batter to avoid adding excess moisture.

Quick Kitchen Nugget

The Value of a Bench Scraper

For Your Best Health

Managing Depression: Using Scents to Unlock Memories 

A study done by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center social workers and published in JAMA Network Open has found that scents are more effective than words at calling up a memory of a specific event. Scents could even be used to help people experiencing depression get out of negative thought cycles and rewire thought patterns, aiding faster and smoother healing.

Early in her career, Kymberly Young, PhD, a neuroscience researcher who studies autobiographical memories, realized that engaging the amygdala, the part of the brain that not only controls the fight-or-flight response but also directs attention and focus to important events, helps with memory recall. 

She also knew of extensive evidence that people with depression have a hard time recalling specific autobiographical memories and that, in healthy individuals, odors trigger memories that feel vivid and real, likely because they directly engage the amygdala through nerve connections from the olfactory bulb.

“It was surprising to me that nobody thought to look at memory recall in depressed individuals using odor cues before,” said Dr. Young, senior author of the study and associate professor of psychiatry at Pitt. So, she decided to test whether engaging the amygdala could help depressed individuals access their memories more effectively. 

Rather than start with brain scanner tests, she decided to go low tech, presenting study participants with a series of opaque glass vials containing potent familiar scents including everything from oranges and ground coffee to shoe polish and even Vicks VapoRub.

After asking participants to smell a vial, Dr. Young asked them to recall a specific memory, good or bad. She was surprised to discover that memory recall was stronger in depressed individuals who received odor cues as opposed to word cues. Also, those who received odor cues were more likely to recall a memory of a specific event (for example, that they went to a coffee shop the previous Friday) than general memories (that they have been to coffee shops before). Memories spurred by odors were also a lot more vivid and felt more immersive. Even though Dr. Young did not direct participants to specifically recall positive memories, her results found that positive memories were more likely to be recalled.

Dr. Young will soon start more technologically advanced studies using a brain scanner, but she is excited about the progress already made. “If we improve memory, we can improve problem-solving, emotion regulation, and other functional problems that depressed individuals often experience,” she said.

Fitness Flash

Resistance Training for Anxiety

Researchers Matthew P. Herring, PhD, of the University of Limerick (UL) in Ireland, and Jacob D. Meyer, PhD, of Iowa State University (ISU), recently published an article in the journal Trends in Molecular Medicine to review evidence supporting the positive effects that resistance exercise training can have on anxiety and depression.  

“There is a critical need for confirmatory, definitive trials that adequately address limitations [of existing research], but the limited evidence available to us provides initial support for the beneficial effects of resistance exercise training on these mental health outcomes, including increased insulin-like growth factor 1, cerebrovascular adaptations, and potential neural adaptations influenced by controlled breathing inherent to resistance exercise,” explained Dr. Herring, associate professor in the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre, Health Research Institute, and department of physical education and sport sciences within the faculty of education and health sciences at UL, and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. 

“Notwithstanding the limitations of the limited number of studies to date, there is exciting evidence, particularly from our previous and ongoing research of the available studies, that suggests that resistance exercise training may be an accessible alternative therapy to improve anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders are prevalent and debilitating public health burdens for which successful treatment is limited,” Dr. Herring said. “A more exciting aspect is that there is substantial promise in investigating the unknown mechanisms that may underlie these benefits to move us closer to maximizing benefits and to optimizing the prescription of resistance exercise via precision medicine approaches.” 

“The current research provides a foundation for testing if resistance training can be a key behavioral treatment approach for depression and anxiety,” said Dr. Meyer, an expert on the neurobiological effects of exercise on depression and director of ISU’s Wellbeing and Exercise Laboratory, focused on understanding how exercise and sedentary activities are related to mental health and well-being. “As resistance training likely works through both shared and distinct mechanisms to achieve its positive mood effects compared to aerobic exercise, it has the potential to be used in conjunction with aerobic exercise or as a stand-alone therapy for these debilitating conditions. Our research will use the platform established by current research as a springboard to comprehensively evaluate these potential benefits of resistance exercise in clinical populations while also identifying who would be the most likely to benefit from resistance exercise.”

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Composed Salad with Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe, Spotlight on Salad Greens, A Monthly 5-day Modified Fast to Boost Longevity and A Surprising Advantage of Exercise 

Composed salad—only the name of this dish sounds tricky. It’s actually a simple technique to arrange ingredients in a beautiful display and let everyone pick and choose what to put on their own plate. I’ve provided suggestions, but you get to pick your culinary adventure! 

Club members know that I believe in nourishing the body with healthful foods (that’s why sourcing fresh-pressed olive oil brimming with polyphenols is so important to me!). And in turn, the body can enrich us in remarkable ways. Two studies provide astounding food for thought to prove that point. The first is a new approach to intermittent fasting, and the second shows how bookmarking learning something new with bouts of physical exercise can help you retain the new information. Enjoy these fascinating reads.

Composed Salad with Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette

• Composed Salad with Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette

  Sounds complicated and even more exotic in its original French—“salade composée”—but a composed salad is nothing more than an artful way to arrange your ingredients rather than tossing them together. Salade Niçoise and Cobb salad are two that are typically presented this way, but a composed salad can be made of any ingredients you choose—and it’s a great way to showcase fresh seasonal vegetables and even fruits. The following ingredients and directions are merely guidelines—let your imagination be your guide and remember that unusual combos can be delicious. Whatever you choose should have a flavorful dressing, so I’m including the recipe for one of my favorite vinaigrettes. It uses apple balsamic vinegar, a great change from classic balsamic of Modena.

  Ingredients

  For the vinaigrette:

  • 1⁄4 cup Apple Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed 
  • 1 small shallot, minced 
  • 1 garlic clove, minced 
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1⁄2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

  For the platter, choose any combination:

  • Protein: pick 1 or 2, such as sliced chicken, hard-boiled egg halves, or strips of prosciutto
  • Cheese: pick 1 or 2 such as cubes of fresh mozzarella or aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, or thin rounds of goat cheese
  • Greens: pick 1 lettuce or another leafy green, like arugula or baby spinach
  • Vegetables: pick 3 or 4, raw, steamed, or grilled, such as asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and string beans
  • Fruit and nuts: pick 1 or more, such as grapes, apple or pear slices, raisins or another dried fruit, avocado, and almonds or walnuts 
  • Legumes: pick 1, such as cooked beans or chickpeas

  Directions

  Step 1

  Make the vinaigrette: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, basil, shallot, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until the dressing is emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

  Step 2

  Compose your salad: Rinse and pat dry all raw ingredients. Cut all ingredients into bite-size pieces or thin slices. Lettuces and other greens can be sliced into ribbons. Choose a large platter and place one ingredient at a time, going from left to right. 

  Step 3

  Place the vinaigrette on the side so each person can add as much or as little as they want.

  Yields 4 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Salad Greens 

I’m a fan of varying the greens in my salads rather than sticking to one type every time. This choice goes beyond taste—each green has a different nutrient profile, so mixing it up means you get a wider range of vitamins, minerals, and other phytochemicals. Here are some choices to put in your own personal rotation.

Iceberg is one of the few lettuces that comes in a very compact head; another is romaine. The leaves of the more delicate butterhead and Boston lettuces are more loosely held together. Red or green loose-leaf lettuce and escarole aren’t compact at all.  

Many greens are sold as leaves, bundled or loose, including watercress, Swiss chard, arugula, baby spinach, and dandelion greens. Some leaves, like kale, have rigid spines or stems that you might want to remove if eating raw but that soften when cooked. 

All greens are a good source of fiber and water. Romaine and spinach have the highest amounts of vitamin A and folate (a B vitamin), spinach and Swiss chard are highest in vitamin K and potassium, and kale and spinach take top honors for calcium.

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Storing Salad Greens

For Your Best Health

A Monthly 5-day Modified Fast to Boost Longevity

We’ve shared reports of studies showing that you may be able to reduce inflammation and better ward off diseases with intermittent fasting—eating fewer than 500 calories on two days of every week or limiting eating to an 8- or 10-hour daily window. Recently, a University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology-led study, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that one five-day monthly cycle of a diet that mimics fasting, known as a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD), can reduce signs of immune system aging, as well as insulin resistance and liver fat, resulting in a lower “biological” age—a measure of how well your cells and tissues are functioning regardless of your chronological age.

The FMD, developed by Valter Longo, PhD, the study’s senior author and professor at the USC Leonard Davis School, is high in unsaturated fats and low in overall calories, protein, and carbohydrates. It’s designed to mimic the effects of a water-only fast while still providing necessary nutrients and making it much easier for people to complete. 

“This is the first study to show that a food-based intervention that does not require chronic dietary or other lifestyle changes can make people biologically younger, based both on changes in risk factors for aging and disease and on a validated method developed by the Levine group to assess biological age,” Dr. Longo said. (The Levine group, led by Morgan Levine, PhD, designs tools just to measure biological age.) 

Previous research led by Longo indicated that brief, periodic FMD cycles are associated with a range of beneficial effects, such as promoting stem cell regeneration, easing chemotherapy side effects, and reducing the signs of dementia in mice. Dr. Longo’s lab also had previously shown that one or two cycles of the FMD for five days a month increased the health span and lifespan of mice on either a normal or a Western diet, but the effects of the FMD on aging and biological age, liver fat, and immune system aging in humans were unknown until now. In addition, the FMD cycles can lower the risk factors for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other age-related diseases in people.

The study analyzed the diet’s effects in two clinical trial populations, each with men and women between the ages of 18 and 70. Patients who were randomized to the fasting-mimicking diet underwent 3-4 monthly cycles, adhering to the FMD for 5 days, then ate a normal diet for 25 days. The FMD is comprised of plant-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chip snacks, and tea plus a supplement providing high levels of minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids. 

An analysis of blood samples from trial participants showed that those in the FMD group had lower diabetes risk factors, including less insulin resistance and lower HbA1c results. Magnetic resonance imaging also revealed a decrease in abdominal fat as well as fat within the liver, improvements associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome. In addition, the FMD cycles appeared to increase the lymphoid-to-myeloid ratio, an indicator of a more youthful immune system. Further statistical analysis of the results showed that FMD participants had reduced their biological age by 2.5 years on average.

“This study shows for the first time evidence for biological age reduction from two different clinical trials, accompanied by evidence of rejuvenation of metabolic and immune function,” Dr. Longo said. It lends more support to the FMD’s potential as a short-term periodic, achievable dietary intervention that can help people lessen their disease risk and improve their health without extensive lifestyle changes, he added.

“Although many doctors are already recommending the FMD in the United States and Europe, these findings should encourage many more healthcare professionals to recommend FMD cycles to patients with higher-than-desired levels of disease risk factors as well as to the general population that may be interested in increased function and younger age,” said Dr. Longo.

Fitness Flash

A Surprising Advantage of Exercise 

Looking to improve your fine motor skills? You can benefit from physical exercise both before and after practicing these skills, according to new research from the department of nutrition, exercise, and sports at the University of Copenhagen. This finding also can, among other things, make the way we rehabilitate more effective.

Before a violinist wants to learn a new piece or a surgeon stands at the training table to learn a new surgical technique, they might consider heading out for a bike ride or run. Once they’ve practiced the new skill, there’s good reason to put on their workout attire again. Indeed, being physically active and elevating one’s heart rate has the wonderful side effect of improving our ability to learn by increasing the brain’s ability to remember, stated the researchers. They showed that this effect also applies to the formation of motor memory, enabling us to recall and perform tasks such as riding a bike, driving a car, and lacing up our shoes, almost automatically.

“Our results demonstrate that there is a clear effect across the board. If you exercise before learning a skill, you will improve and remember what you have learned better. The same applies if you exercise after learning,” said Lasse Jespersen, PhD, first author of the study. Specifically, the researchers found around 10% improvement in people’s ability to remember a newly learned motor skill when exercise is included either before or after the new skill. “But our research shows that the greatest effect is achieved if you exercise both before and after,” Dr. Jespersen added.

“This is probably because physical activity increases the brain’s ability to change, which is a prerequisite for remembering,” explained co-author Jesper Lundbye-Jensen, PhD, who heads the department’s movement and neuroscience section. Specific parts of the brain are activated when a person engages in motor practice that requires the acquisition of fine motor skills. If the task is an activity that one knows well, like riding a bicycle, the centers are less active, but that all changes when learning something new. The brain undergoes actual changes, something that is essential for our ability to learn and remember new skills, a phenomenon known as brain plasticity. These changes occur not only while the new skill is acquired through practice but also in the hours after, when the memory is consolidated. This is why it is meaningful to be physically active even after we’ve engaged in something new.

The effect applies to everyone, including children, adolescents, and older adults, and in particular anyone who regularly needs to learn new skills. Moreover, the effects may hold significance for individuals undergoing rehabilitation, aiming to recover mobility and lost motor skills. 

“Typically, rehabilitation is divided between two or three different disciplines. In practice, this may mean that Mr. Smith will have physical training with a physiotherapist on one day, work with an ergonomist the next, and train cognitive abilities with a psychologist on the third. Our research suggests that it could be wise to plan rehabilitation so that these areas are considered together, as doing so could have a synergistic effect,” explained Dr. Lundbye-Jensen. “Coming back often entails hard work, and even slight improvements in efficiency can mean a lot to people in that situation.”

Sixty-seven test subjects were involved in the research project. To ensure comparable data, all subjects were young men between the ages of 18 and 35 who were not physically or mentally impaired in ways that could limit their learning ability and physical performance.

The researchers examined the subjects’ behavior and performance while reviewing one of four possible scenarios. First, the subjects either rested or exercised moderately on a bicycle. After that, they were subjected to a fine motor task in the form of a simple computer game that, with a small device on their fingertips, challenged and practiced their motor dexterity.

Next, they either exercised intensely on a fitness bike or rested. That meant there was one group that rested both before and after, one that trained both times, and two that trained once, either before or after. Their skill level and memory were tested again after seven days to assess whether what they had learned stuck.

As a somewhat unusual criterion, professional musicians and gamers were excluded as possible participants. “People with extensive experience in practicing motor skills typically start at a different level. While the motor task used in the research study was unknown to all, involving experts would have changed the dynamic from the get-go. But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t benefit from the effects we’ve shown. To the contrary, in a future study, it could be exciting to investigate how exercise affects people with elite-level fine motor skills,” said Dr. Jespersen.

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Philly-Style Cheesesteak Recipe, Spotlight on Flank Steak, How to Halve Avocados, New Lenses for Better Vision and Benefits of Walking in Nature

I love to “healthify” recipes that are delicious but could use a refresh, one that preserves their taste and lowers the guilt quotient over eating them. Philly cheesesteak is a great example—and this recipe comes together very quickly. I’m also sharing news about a potential revolution in corrective lenses that could have you seeing more clearly in the future, along with the latest study about the advantages of walking in nature—and why it’s better than a track or treadmill.

Philly-Style Cheesesteak

• Philly-Style Cheesesteaks

  While delicious and beloved, the classic sandwich is somewhat of a greasy hot mess. With just a few tweaks, including a leaner cut of meat than usual and polyphenol-rich olive oil, it becomes a satisfying meal with a better health profile. If you prefer, swap mozzarella for the provolone.

  Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 pounds flank steak
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use
  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
  • 2 thin baguettes or 4 seeded rolls, whole grain if possible 
  • Dijon mustard
  • 8 slices provolone cheese 
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced thinly 
  • 1 large green or red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced

  Directions

  Step 1

  Prep the flank steak: To make the meat easier to thinly slice, place it in the freezer for 45-60 minutes to firm it up and get it frosty, but not to the point it’s frozen. For already frozen meat that you’re defrosting, slice before it thaws out completely. While you’re waiting, set out a platter and grab your raw meat-only cutting board and a sharp chef’s knife. (As an alternative, you can use the thin-slice blade of your food processor and work with chunks that will fit into the spout.) When the meat is ready, slice it against the grain—in the opposite direction of the meat fibers. Toss in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper, and set aside.

  Step 2

  Cut each baguette in half and then slice each bread section about three-quarters of the way through. For each sandwich, spread mustard on one side of the bread and layer on the provolone.

  Step 3

  Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the onion and bell pepper slices; lower the heat and slow-cook until the onions are fully caramelized. Use a large slotted spoon to move the veggies to a bowl. 

  Step 4

  Raise the heat back to medium-high and then add the rest of the olive oil. Add the meat (work in batches if needed to avoid crowding). Sear the meat, then use tongs to flip each piece and continue to sauté until well cooked with the edges slightly crispy.  

  Step 5

  To finish assembling the sandwiches, place equal amounts of the hot meat over the cheese—the heat will melt it. Top each with a generous amount of onions and peppers and a drizzle of olive oil.

  Yields 4 servings

Healthy Ingredient Spotlight

Flank Steak

Spoiler alert: Flank steak is not actually a steak, yet it’s still a flavorful cut of beef and quite affordable. Because it’s lean, it can be tough if not properly cooked. If you have a flank steak recipe, such as London broil, that calls for cooking an entire piece (rather than precutting it into thin slices), three things make all the difference: a long (overnight) marination, a fast grilling (or a very slow braise for a dish like brisket, which will also tenderize it), and slicing it against the grain—in the opposite direction of its meat fibers.

Quick Kitchen Nugget

Timely Warning: What Not to do to Avocado Halves

For Your Best Health

New Lenses for Better Vision 

Do you ever feel as though your progressives aren’t giving you the visual range you need? A better lens may be at hand. Researchers have developed a spiral-shaped lens that maintains clear focus at different distances in varying light conditions. It works much like progressive lenses used for vision correction but without the distortions typically seen with those lenses. It could help advance contact lens technologies, intraocular implants for cataracts, and miniaturized imaging systems.

“Unlike existing multifocal lenses, our lens performs well under a wide range of light conditions and maintains multifocality regardless of the size of the pupil,” said Bertrand Simon, PhD, from Photonics, Numerical and Nanosciences Laboratory, a joint research unit of the Institut d’Optique Graduate School, the University of Bordeaux, and the National Centre for Scientific Research in France. “For potential implant users or people with age-related farsightedness, it could provide consistently clear vision, potentially revolutionizing ophthalmology.”

In Optica, Optica Publishing Group’s journal for high-impact research, the researchers describe the new lens, which they call the spiral diopter. Its spiraling features are arranged in a way that creates many separate points of focus, much like having multiple lenses in one. This makes it possible to see clearly at various distances.

The inspiration for the spiral lens design came when the paper’s first author, Laurent Galinier from SPIRAL SAS in France, was analyzing the optical properties of severe corneal deformations in patients. This led him to conceptualize a lens with a unique spiral design that causes light to spin like water going down a drain. This phenomenon, known as an optical vortex, creates multiple clear focus points, which allow the lens to provide clear focus at different distances.

“Creating an optical vortex usually requires multiple optical components,” said Galinier. “Our lens, however, incorporates the elements necessary to make an optical vortex directly in its surface. Creating optical vortices is a thriving field of research, but our method simplifies the process, marking a significant advancement in the field of optics.” Volunteers using the lenses reported noticeable improvements in visual acuity at a variety of distances and lighting conditions.

The researchers are now working to better understand the unique optical vortices produced by their lens. They also plan to perform systematic trials of the lens’ ability to correct vision in people to comprehensively establish its performance and advantages in real-world conditions. In addition, they are exploring the possibility of applying the concept to prescription eyeglasses, which could potentially offer users clear vision across multiple distances.

“This new lens could significantly improve people’s depth of vision under changing lighting conditions,” said Dr. Simon. “Future developments with this technology might also lead to advancements in compact imaging technologies, wearable devices and remote sensing systems for drones or self-driving cars, which could make them more reliable and efficient.”

Fitness Flash

The Multiple Benefits of Walking in Nature

New work from University of Utah psychology researchers is helping prove what American authors John Muir and Henry David Thoreau said more than 150 years ago: Time spent in nature is good for the heart and soul. Amy McDonnell, PhD, and David Strayer, PhD, are showing it’s good for your brain, too. Their study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, used electroencephalography (EEG), which records electrical activity in the brain with small discs attached to the scalp, to measure participants’ attentional capacity. They found that a walk in nature enhances certain executive control processes in the brain above and beyond the accepted benefits associated with exercise. The University itself has recently established a new research group, Nature and Human Health Utah, to explore these issues and propose solutions for bridging the human-nature divide.

Many researchers suspect that a primal need for nature is baked into our DNA, and diminishing access to nature puts good health at risk. “There’s an idea called biophilia that basically says that our evolution over hundreds of thousands of years has gotten us to have more of a connection or a love of natural living things,” said Dr. Strayer, a professor of psychology. “And our modern urban environment has become this dense urban jungle with cell phones and cars and computers and traffic, just the opposite of that kind of restorative environment.” Dr. Strayer’s past research into multitasking and distracted driving associated with cellphone use has drawn national attention. For the past decade, his lab has focused on how nature affects cognition. 

For this study, the researchers analyzed EEG data recorded on each of 92 participants immediately before and after they undertook a 40-minute walk. They started out by having participants do a complex cognitive task—counting backwards from 1,000 by sevens. “No matter how good you are at mental math, it gets pretty draining after 10 minutes,” Dr. McDonnell said. Right after that, they were given an attention task. The idea was to deplete the participants’ attentional reserves before doing the task and going for the walk, which they did without any electronic devices or talking to anyone along the way. Participants were randomly selected to walk through either the least built-up part of the Red Butte Garden, an arboretum in the foothills just east of the University, or the adjacent medical campus and parking lots. Both routes covered two miles at similar elevations.

“The participants that had walked in nature showed an improvement in their executive attention on that task, whereas the urban walkers did not, so then we know it’s something unique about the environment that you’re walking in,” Dr. McDonnell said. “We know exercise benefits executive attention as well, so we wanted to make sure both groups have comparable amounts of exercise.”

What sets this study apart from much of the existing research is its reliance on EEG data as opposed to surveys and self-reporting, which do yield helpful information but can be highly subjective. “This is probably one of the most rigorous studies in terms of controlling for and making sure that it’s really the exposure in Red Butte” resulting in the observed cognitive effects, Dr. Strayer said.

The EEG data revealed three components of attention: alerting, orienting, and executive control. Executive control occurs in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, an area critical for working memory, decision-making, problem-solving, and coordinating disparate tasks. “The kinds of things that we do on an everyday basis tend to heavily use those executive attentional networks,” Dr. Strayer said. “It’s important in concentration, so it’s an essential component of higher-order thinking.”

While the EEG and attention task results did not show much of a difference for alertness and orientation between the garden and the asphalt walkers, those on the nature walk exhibited improved executive control. Drs. McDonnell and Strayer hope the findings can be refined to show what kind of natural settings result in optimal cognitive benefits and how much exposure is needed to help.

Dr. Strayer studies both distraction and attention, which he sees as opposing sides of the same coin. “It’s where the prefrontal cortex is overloaded, overstimulated, and you make all kinds of dangerous mistakes when you’re multitasking behind the wheel,” he said. “But the antidote to that is being out in a natural environment—leave the phone in your pocket and go out and walk the trails. The parts of the brain that have been overused during the daily commute are restored. You see and think more clearly.”

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