BackgroundInteraction with nature has a relaxing effect on humans. Increasing attention has been focused on the therapeutic effects of urban green space; however, there is a lack of evidence-based field research. This study provided scientific evidence supporting the physiological and psychological effects of walking on young males in urban parks in winter.FindingsSubjects (13 males aged 22.5 ± 3.1 years) were instructed to walk predetermined 15-minute courses in an urban park (test) and in the city area (control). Heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) were measured to assess physiological responses. The semantic differential (SD) method, Profile of Mood States (POMS), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to determine psychological responses.Heart rate was significantly lower and the natural logarithm of the high frequency component of HRV was significantly higher when walking through the urban park than through the city area. The results of three questionnaires indicated that walking in the urban park improved mood and decreased negative feelings and anxiety.ConclusionsPhysiological and psychological data from this field experiment provide important scientific evidence regarding the health benefits of walking in an urban park. The results support the premise that walking in an urban park has relaxing effects even in winter.

Recently reported research indicate that forest environments have physiological and psychological relaxing effects compared to urban environments. However, some researchers claim that the stress of the subjects from being watched by others during measurements can affect the measurement result in urban experiments conducted in the center of a street. The present study was conducted to determine whether forest environments have physiological and psychological relaxing effects, using comparison of viewing a forest area with viewing an urban area from the roof of an urban building without being watched by others. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurement was performed on subjects while they viewed scenery for 15 min at each experimental site (urban and forest areas). Subjective assessments were performed after the NIRS measurement was complete. Total hemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin concentrations were significantly lower in the forest area than in the urban area. For semantic differential in subjective assessments, feelings of “comfortable”, “natural”, and “soothed” were significantly higher in the forest area than in the urban area, and for profile of mood states, negative emotions were significantly lower in the forest area than in the urban area. The results of physiological and psychological measurements show that viewing the forest enabled effective relaxation.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of physical activities on human health in forests in countryside and rural areas. The test experiment was conducted in a countryside forest, whereas the controlled experiment was conducted in an urban area where the study participants resided. A total of 22 participants (aged 20.9 ± 1.3 years) were evaluated in this study. Heart rate variability and salivary cortisol level were used as indices of physiological conditions, and semantic differential method, profile of mood states (POMS), and state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) were used to evaluate the participants’ emotional states. The participants were asked to walk around forest and urban areas for 15 min. The results were as follows. As compared to the urban area, in the forest area, (1) the power of the high-frequency (HF) component of the heart rate variability (HRV) was significantly higher; (2) low-frequency (LF)/(LF + HF) was significantly lower; (3) salivary cortisol level was significantly lower; (4) the participants felt more comfortable, natural, relaxed, and less anxious and showed higher levels of positive emotions and lower levels of negative emotions. Consequently, walking in the forest area induces relaxing short-term physiological and psychological effects on young people living in urban areas.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of watching a virtual reality (VR) forest video on stress reduction in adults. Experiments were performed in an artificial climate chamber where temperature, humidity and illumination were controlled. To cause stress in subjects, the subjects were asked to multiply two digit numbers by one digit numbers for two minutes. The subjects then watched a VR forest video for five minutes. During the experiment, the heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate (HR) of subjects were continuously measured for evaluating their physiological state. After measuring the baseline and watching a VR forest video, their psychological state was evaluated using the profile of mood state (POMS), semantic differential (SD) method, and positive affect and negative affect schedule (PANAS). The results of physiological evaluation after watching a VR forest video showed a decrease in the stress index and HR, an increase in the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, and the standard deviation of normal to normal RR intervals (SDNN). The results of psychological assessment confirmed that watching a VR forest video induced "comfort", "natural", and "soothed" feelings in subjects. In addition, watching a VR forest video decreased "tension-anxiety (T-A)", "depression-dejection (D)", "anger-hostility (A-H)", "fatigue (F)", "total mood disturbance (TMD)", and increased "vigor (V)" compared to the base line, and decreased "negative affect" and increased "positive affect." These results indicate that watching a VR forest video decreases adults' stress index, stabilizes physiological state, and has a positive impact on psychological state. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for providing forest welfare services to people in the blind spots of forest welfare, and can lay a foundation for the adoption of VR, one of the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution in forestry.

This research was conducted to investigate the impact of viewing scenery and walking in the urban forest on physiological relaxation of humans. The experiment was conducted in Hanbat Arboretum located in Daejeon, and the control experiment was conducted in front of Daejeon City Hall. The subjects that participated in the experiment comprised 24 Korean male university students in their 20s (average age, 21.1±2.5 years), participated in the experiment as the subject, and these subjects were classified into three groups divided into three locations such as the pine forest in Arboretum, the pond in Arboretum, and the city. The subjects sat down and viewed scenery for 10 min, and they then walked for 15 min. Further, physiological changes were measured using indicators such as heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, and pulse rate. As a result, when subjects viewed scenery and walked in the urban forest, a statistically significant increase in the high frequency (HF) power of HRV and decrease in systolic pressure was observed compared with when subjects viewed scenery and walked in the city. Through this research, it was found that activities like viewing scenery or walking in Arboretum of the city are effective in increasing the physiological relaxation of the city residents.