Forest Walking Affects Autonomic Nervous Activity: A Population-Based Study
The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of walking in forest environments on autonomic nervous activity with special reference to its distribution characteristics. Heart rate variability (HRV) of 485 male participants while walking for ~15 min in a forest and an urban area was analyzed. The e...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-10-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00278/full |
id |
doaj-f00bbc6cc0ee4d21b4d914d3148e5468 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-f00bbc6cc0ee4d21b4d914d3148e54682020-11-24T20:58:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652018-10-01610.3389/fpubh.2018.00278379715Forest Walking Affects Autonomic Nervous Activity: A Population-Based StudyHiromitsu Kobayashi0Chorong Song1Harumi Ikei2Harumi Ikei3Bum-Jin Park4Juyoung Lee5Takahide Kagawa6Yoshifumi Miyazaki7Department of Nursing, Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing University, Ishikawa, JapanCenter for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, Kashiwa, JapanCenter for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, Kashiwa, JapanForestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, JapanDepartment of Environment and Forest Resources, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South KoreaDepartment of Landscape Architecture, Hankyong National University, Anseong-si, South KoreaForestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, JapanCenter for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, Kashiwa, JapanThe present study aimed to evaluate the effect of walking in forest environments on autonomic nervous activity with special reference to its distribution characteristics. Heart rate variability (HRV) of 485 male participants while walking for ~15 min in a forest and an urban area was analyzed. The experimental sites were 57 forests and 57 urban areas across Japan. Parasympathetic and sympathetic indicators [lnHF and ln(LF/HF), respectively] of HRV were calculated based on ~15-min heart rate recordings. Skewness and kurtosis of the distributions of lnHF and ln(LF/HF) were almost the same between the two environments, although the means and medians of the indicators differed significantly. Percentages of positive responders [presenting an increase in lnHF or a decrease in ln(LF/HF) in forest environments] were 65.2 and 67.0%, respectively. The percentage of lnHF was significantly smaller than our previous results on HRV during the viewing of urban or forest landscapes, whereas the percentage of ln(LF/HF) was not significantly different. The results suggest that walking in a forest environment has a different effect on autonomic nervous activity than viewing a forest landscape.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00278/fullforest therapywalkingheart rate variability (HRV)skewnesskurtosispopulation approach |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Hiromitsu Kobayashi Chorong Song Harumi Ikei Harumi Ikei Bum-Jin Park Juyoung Lee Takahide Kagawa Yoshifumi Miyazaki |
spellingShingle |
Hiromitsu Kobayashi Chorong Song Harumi Ikei Harumi Ikei Bum-Jin Park Juyoung Lee Takahide Kagawa Yoshifumi Miyazaki Forest Walking Affects Autonomic Nervous Activity: A Population-Based Study Frontiers in Public Health forest therapy walking heart rate variability (HRV) skewness kurtosis population approach |
author_facet |
Hiromitsu Kobayashi Chorong Song Harumi Ikei Harumi Ikei Bum-Jin Park Juyoung Lee Takahide Kagawa Yoshifumi Miyazaki |
author_sort |
Hiromitsu Kobayashi |
title |
Forest Walking Affects Autonomic Nervous Activity: A Population-Based Study |
title_short |
Forest Walking Affects Autonomic Nervous Activity: A Population-Based Study |
title_full |
Forest Walking Affects Autonomic Nervous Activity: A Population-Based Study |
title_fullStr |
Forest Walking Affects Autonomic Nervous Activity: A Population-Based Study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Forest Walking Affects Autonomic Nervous Activity: A Population-Based Study |
title_sort |
forest walking affects autonomic nervous activity: a population-based study |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Public Health |
issn |
2296-2565 |
publishDate |
2018-10-01 |
description |
The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of walking in forest environments on autonomic nervous activity with special reference to its distribution characteristics. Heart rate variability (HRV) of 485 male participants while walking for ~15 min in a forest and an urban area was analyzed. The experimental sites were 57 forests and 57 urban areas across Japan. Parasympathetic and sympathetic indicators [lnHF and ln(LF/HF), respectively] of HRV were calculated based on ~15-min heart rate recordings. Skewness and kurtosis of the distributions of lnHF and ln(LF/HF) were almost the same between the two environments, although the means and medians of the indicators differed significantly. Percentages of positive responders [presenting an increase in lnHF or a decrease in ln(LF/HF) in forest environments] were 65.2 and 67.0%, respectively. The percentage of lnHF was significantly smaller than our previous results on HRV during the viewing of urban or forest landscapes, whereas the percentage of ln(LF/HF) was not significantly different. The results suggest that walking in a forest environment has a different effect on autonomic nervous activity than viewing a forest landscape. |
topic |
forest therapy walking heart rate variability (HRV) skewness kurtosis population approach |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00278/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT hiromitsukobayashi forestwalkingaffectsautonomicnervousactivityapopulationbasedstudy AT chorongsong forestwalkingaffectsautonomicnervousactivityapopulationbasedstudy AT harumiikei forestwalkingaffectsautonomicnervousactivityapopulationbasedstudy AT harumiikei forestwalkingaffectsautonomicnervousactivityapopulationbasedstudy AT bumjinpark forestwalkingaffectsautonomicnervousactivityapopulationbasedstudy AT juyounglee forestwalkingaffectsautonomicnervousactivityapopulationbasedstudy AT takahidekagawa forestwalkingaffectsautonomicnervousactivityapopulationbasedstudy AT yoshifumimiyazaki forestwalkingaffectsautonomicnervousactivityapopulationbasedstudy |
_version_ |
1716784738996322304 |