Experiencing nature helps people overcome distractions, build focus: IIT Delhi Study

The study, Effect of Nature Experience on Fronto-parietal Correlates of Neurocognitive Processes involved in Directed Attention: An ERP study, was published in the journal Annals of Neurosciences.

A study by the User Experience Lab, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has revealed that experiencing nature helps people overcome distractions and build focus. The researchers have found that even brief experiences of nature – a walk in a park, garden; taking care of plants in a garden, viewing greenery – can help people concentrate on their tasks in a better way. 
The study, Effect of Nature Experience on Fronto-parietal Correlates of Neurocognitive Processes involved in Directed Attention: An ERP study, was published in the journal Annals of Neurosciences in April 2021.

The research was undertaken by Dr Pooja Sahni, research fellow, and Professor Jyoti Kumar, IIT Delhi. The researchers attempted to map the effects of nature experience on human brain processes. “Participants were observed while they were presented with nature audio/ video as stimuli to evoke experience akin to being in nature albeit in lab settings. The brain activity was examined during the nature experience and while a task was performed both before and after the experiment,” an official statement said.

Participants, after their nature experience were able to overcome distractions more efficiently, it said.

“Though there is evidence that suggests that viewing nature is inherently rewarding - producing a cascade of positive emotions, yet the underlying neural and cognitive processes have not been fully explored. This paper, in its novel contribution, provides empirical evidence for the neurocognitive processes underlying a mental state which is relaxed yet alert after a brief experience in nature,” Dr Sahni said.

Dr Sahni said people spend more than 90 per cent of their time indoors- most of it in front of the TV, computer and mobile screens. “There are reports that such a lifestyle is likely to increase the risk of attentional problems, especially in children. On the other hand, being outdoors with nature, or even a brief interaction with nature through tending to indoor plants can help us build focus in a big way.”

Prof Jyoti Kumar said, “This research is particularly useful where we often feel distracted and fatigued due to overarching demands on our attentional resources posed by our jobs. During such times perhaps a walk in the garden or even viewing nature through our window may help us get back to task in hand in a more focused way.”

“Interestingly, the importance of nature experience had been emphasised in the Vedic culture where ‘aranyakas’ (meaning deliberated in the jungle) were part of the ‘vedas’ emphasising the need to deliberate amidst nature in order to understand the deeper aspects of life,” he added.

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