Shankar Vedantam

Today, Mark returns to the show to respond to some of the hundreds of stories and questions we received.

Mark Berman, welcome back to Hidden Brain.

Mark, many listeners wrote in to share the benefits that nature has had on their minds.

Can you remind us of what the researchers found about how nature affects us psychologically and emotionally?

I think the most common theme we heard from listeners is that nature helps them calm down when they're feeling anxious or overwhelmed.

We heard from a listener named Jennifer who says that when she's stressed out, she visits the bees who love the flowers in her backyard.

So Mark, there were a series of studies done in the 1980s and 90s that looked at how nature can affect us when we are feeling stressed out.

Those studies had a great influence on you.

What did the research find?

I'd like to circle back to something you mentioned earlier, that spending time in nature can improve our attention.

You've done some research on this, Mark.

Tell me about that.

You also looked at how nature can affect our moods.

We heard a story about nature and depression from a listener named Betsy.

I'm so glad that Betsy's daughter is doing better, Mark.

But one thing that struck me about what she said is that walking helps her get outside of herself for a period of time.

Does nature help us see ourselves differently?

We heard from many listeners who have dealt with the death of a loved one by seeking out nature.

We can't play all of the messages we received, but let's hear two of them.

Here are Anjali and Randy.