What We Can Learn From the Brain Waves of Pedestrians

Our own Eric Jaffe has previously written about a concept in psychology called "attention restoration theory," which proposes that our brains may be given a break from the constant bombardment of urban life when we stroll through a park or encounter green space. As Eric explained last summer:

This phenomenon has previously been studied by asking people to self-report how greenery makes them feel, or by giving subjects memory and attention tests before and after prodding them to walk down a city street or through a park. Other evidence of the greenery-reduces-stress theory comes, of all places, from your saliva. That research has found that people who live near trees and parks have lower levels of salivary cortisol, a slightly more scientific measurement of stress than reported questionnaires on well-being.