Objectives: The effects of nature on physical and mental health are an emerging topic in empirical research with increasing influence on practical health recommendations. Here we set out to investigate the association between spending time outdoors and brain structural plasticity in conjunctions with self-reported affect.
Methods: We established the Day2day study, which includes an unprecedented in-depth assessment of variability of brain structure in a serial sequence of 40-50 structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisitions of each of six young healthy participants for 6-8 months ( = 281 MRI scans in total).
Results: A whole-brain analysis revealed that time spent outdoors was positively associated with grey matter volume in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and positive affect, also after controlling for physical activity, fluid intake, free time, and hours of sunshine.
Conclusions: Results indicate remarkable and potentially behaviorally relevant plasticity of cerebral structure within a short time frame driven by the daily time spent outdoors. This is compatible with anecdotal evidence of the health and mood-promoting effects of going for a walk. The study may provide the first evidence for underlying cerebral mechanisms of so-called green prescriptions with possible consequences for future interventions in mental disorders.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15622975.2021.1938670 | DOI Listing |
Adv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, South Korea.
Molecular diagnosis limitations, including complex treatment processes, low cost-effectiveness, and operator-dependent low reproducibility, interrupt the timely prevention of disease spread and the development of medical devices for home and outdoor uses. A newly fabricated gold nanopillar array-based film is presented for superior photothermal energy conversion. Magnifying the metal film surface-to-volume ratio increases the photothermal energy conversion efficiency, resulting in a swift reduction in the gene amplification reaction time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAsia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila)
January 2025
National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Chinese Taipei. Electronic address:
Purpose: To investigate whether premyopia is a risk factor for myopia onset and whether outdoor activities can protect against myopia development in premyopic children in the Recess Outside Classroom (ROC) study.
Methods: Nonmyopic schoolchildren aged 7 to 11 years were recruited from two schools in Taiwan. One school implemented the ROC program, which encouraged children to go outdoors during recess.
Environ Res
January 2025
Departamento de Bioloxía Vexetal e Ciencias do Solo, Área de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Facultade de Ciencias, Universidade de Vigo, As Lagoas s/n, Ourense, 32004, Spain; Instituto de Agroecoloxía e Alimentación (IAA), Campus Auga, Universidade de Vigo, Ourense, 32004, Spain; Comunidades Microbianas de suelos (id. UA 1678), MBG-CSIC/ Universidad de Vigo, Unidad asociada al CSIC, Spain.
The overuse of pesticides in agriculture has led to widespread pollution of soils and water resources, becoming a problem of great concern. Nowadays, special attention is given to neonicotinoids, particularly acetamiprid, the only neonicotinoid insecticide allowed for outdoor use in the European Union. Once acetamiprid reaches the soil, adsorption/desorption is the main process determining its bioavailability and environmental fate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, F508 - 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4, Canada.
Sensors (Basel)
January 2025
Meteorology and Fluid Science Division, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, 1646 Abiko, Abiko-shi 270-1194, Chiba, Japan.
The electrical resistance (ER) method is widely used for atmospheric corrosion measurements and can be used to measure the corrosion rate accurately. However, severe errors occur in environments with temperature fluctuations, such as areas exposed to solar radiation, preventing accurate temporal corrosion rate measurement. To decrease the error, we developed an improved sensor composed of a reference metal film and an overlaid sensor metal film to cancel temperature differences between them.
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