Neuroscientist: To Keep Your Brain Young, Go Hiking

If science is sure about anything, it’s that walking and nature are good for you. One recent study showed walking just 15 minutes a day can add years to your life, while a prominent(известный) neuroscientist called walking “a superpower.” Meanwhile(тем временем), study after study after study shows time in nature reduces stress, boosts happiness and self-control, and makes you more creative.

Now imagine what happens if you put these two activities together?

Take a hike. Your brain will thank you.

If you’re talking about brain health, the hippocampus — the brain structure that mediates(служит посредником) memory — evolved for geonavigation, to help us remember where we are going, so that we can move toward food and mates and away from danger. If we don’t keep that part exercised, we do so at our own peril(на свой страхи риск). The hippocampus can atrophy.

A hike through your local nature reserve is an ideal way to keep that particular part of the brain in top form. Being outside is good, because anything can happen. You’re encountering twigs(ветки) and roots(корни) and rocks(камни) and creatures(существа). All that kind of stuff is essential to keeping a brain young.

Even virtual reality exercise environments that force you to respond to the unfamiliar and unexpected have been shown to have some benefits, he adds.

Other reasons to go for a hike this weekend

All of which is fascinating if you’re keen to keep your brain as sharp(острый) as possible for as long as possible. But scientists aren’t the only experts who have weighed in on the benefits of clambering up a trail(восхождение по тропе) A host(множество) of creatives and thinkers also testify that long walks in nature have a unique power to generate new ideas from your brain. Which may be why so many of history’s great minds, from Charles Darwin to Steve Jobs, were committed ramblers.

So whether you’re looking for the next, best version of yourself, or just hoping to preserve the well functioning self you currently have, you might want to consider going for a long walk this weekend. Your brain will thank you.