{"title":"Effects of forest bathing and the influence of exposure levels on cognitive health in the elderly: Evidence from a suburban forest recreation area","authors":"Jittakon Ramanpong, Chen Tsao, Jie Yin, Chih-Da Wu, Yu-Chih Huang, Chia-Pin Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128667","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Using nature for cognitive enhancement has great potential. The potential effects of engagement with nature on cognitive aging have been receiving attention, particularly due to the challenges posed by an aging society. Forest bathing involves structured therapeutic recreational activities that could improve cognitive performance within a forest environment. However, the frequency, intensity, and duration of exposure to nature may hold different degrees of importance when it comes to health outcomes. In this study, a within-subjects design experiment was used to evaluate cognitive responses before and after participation among the elderly in a self-guided forest bathing program. Objective exposure metrics, including frequency of visits, walking distance, and time spent in the forest over a week, were employed to investigate subjects’ cognitive enhancement. The results revealed significant improvements in cognitive performance indicators. Through the Stroop test, participants showed reduced completion times in all sections after engaging in the self-guided forest bathing program. The Forward Digit Span Task and the Remote Associates Test scores displayed a significant increase following the self-guided forest bathing, indicating improvements in working memory and creativity, respectively. A negative correlation was observed between the change in time required to complete the Stroop task section involving color identification of neutral words and the frequency of forest bathing practices, suggesting that more frequent forest bathing practices may enhance the attentional control of the elderly. Moreover, a positive correlation was identified between the change in the backward Digit Span Task score and the frequency of self-guided forest bathing practices over a week, suggesting that regular engagement in forest bathing may have a positive impact on enhancing the working memory of the elderly.","PeriodicalId":49394,"journal":{"name":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Urban Forestry & Urban Greening","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2025.128667","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Using nature for cognitive enhancement has great potential. The potential effects of engagement with nature on cognitive aging have been receiving attention, particularly due to the challenges posed by an aging society. Forest bathing involves structured therapeutic recreational activities that could improve cognitive performance within a forest environment. However, the frequency, intensity, and duration of exposure to nature may hold different degrees of importance when it comes to health outcomes. In this study, a within-subjects design experiment was used to evaluate cognitive responses before and after participation among the elderly in a self-guided forest bathing program. Objective exposure metrics, including frequency of visits, walking distance, and time spent in the forest over a week, were employed to investigate subjects’ cognitive enhancement. The results revealed significant improvements in cognitive performance indicators. Through the Stroop test, participants showed reduced completion times in all sections after engaging in the self-guided forest bathing program. The Forward Digit Span Task and the Remote Associates Test scores displayed a significant increase following the self-guided forest bathing, indicating improvements in working memory and creativity, respectively. A negative correlation was observed between the change in time required to complete the Stroop task section involving color identification of neutral words and the frequency of forest bathing practices, suggesting that more frequent forest bathing practices may enhance the attentional control of the elderly. Moreover, a positive correlation was identified between the change in the backward Digit Span Task score and the frequency of self-guided forest bathing practices over a week, suggesting that regular engagement in forest bathing may have a positive impact on enhancing the working memory of the elderly.
期刊介绍：
Urban Forestry and Urban Greening is a refereed, international journal aimed at presenting high-quality research with urban and peri-urban woody and non-woody vegetation and its use, planning, design, establishment and management as its main topics. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening concentrates on all tree-dominated (as joint together in the urban forest) as well as other green resources in and around urban areas, such as woodlands, public and private urban parks and gardens, urban nature areas, street tree and square plantations, botanical gardens and cemeteries.
The journal welcomes basic and applied research papers, as well as review papers and short communications. Contributions should focus on one or more of the following aspects:
-Form and functions of urban forests and other vegetation, including aspects of urban ecology.
-Policy-making, planning and design related to urban forests and other vegetation.
-Selection and establishment of tree resources and other vegetation for urban environments.
-Management of urban forests and other vegetation.
Original contributions of a high academic standard are invited from a wide range of disciplines and fields, including forestry, biology, horticulture, arboriculture, landscape ecology, pathology, soil science, hydrology, landscape architecture, landscape planning, urban planning and design, economics, sociology, environmental psychology, public health, and education.
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