Lee Juyoung, Park Bum-Jin, Tsunetsugu Yuko, Kagawa Takahide, Miyazaki Yoshifumi
Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, Japan.
Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi. 2011 Sep;66(4):663-9. doi: 10.1265/jjh.66.663.
To provide scientific evidence of the health benefits of forest therapy in terms of physiological indices.
Within-group comparison made by conducting field experiments.
Forty-eight young male adults.
Field experiments were conducted at four local sites in Japan. At each site, 12 adults participated in a three-day experiment. To compare physiological reactions between two environmental stimuli, experiments were conducted in forest and urban environments. The participants were randomly assigned to visit either the forest or an urban setting and were instructed to view the landscape in a seated position. The physiological reactions of each participant were recorded before, during, and after viewing the stimuli, and the differences in physiological indices were compared between the two groups.
Physiological data revealed that participants demonstrated significantly different reactions in the forest and urban environments. Analysis of heart rate revealed that participants showed a significantly higher ln(HF) and a lower ln(LF/HF) in the forest environment than in the urban environment. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures, pulse rate, and salivary cortisol concentration significantly decreased in the forest environment compared with the urban environment. Subjective evaluation data were generally in accordance with physiological reactions, showing significantly higher scores for "comfortable, natural, soothed, and refreshed feelings" in the forest environment than in the urban environment.
This study provided very clear scientific evidence of the physiological effects of forest therapy. Our data indicate that forest therapy can decrease stress and facilitate physiological relaxation.
从生理指标方面提供森林疗法对健康有益的科学证据。
通过进行实地实验进行组内比较。
48名年轻男性成年人。
在日本的四个当地地点进行实地实验。在每个地点，12名成年人参与了为期三天的实验。为了比较两种环境刺激之间的生理反应，在森林和城市环境中进行了实验。参与者被随机分配到森林或城市环境中，并被要求坐着观看风景。在观看刺激物之前、期间和之后记录每个参与者的生理反应，并比较两组之间生理指标的差异。
生理数据显示，参与者在森林和城市环境中的反应存在显著差异。心率分析表明，与城市环境相比，参与者在森林环境中的ln(HF)显著更高，ln(LF/HF)更低。与城市环境相比，森林环境中的收缩压、舒张压、脉搏率和唾液皮质醇浓度显著降低。主观评价数据总体上与生理反应一致，显示森林环境中“舒适、自然、舒缓和清爽的感觉”得分显著高于城市环境。
本研究为森林疗法的生理效应提供了非常明确的科学证据。我们的数据表明，森林疗法可以减轻压力并促进生理放松。
