To keep things simple, "activity is better for cognition". It doesn't have to be outside. Let's start with just promoting any activity...
There's already well-known studies showing that doing physical activity _before_ the school day starts, and then having the most challenging/cognition intense classes first, following the physical activity, boosts learning.
I'm not exactly "young" anymore, but when I was, the main reason I didn't like physical outdoor activities over physical indoor activities is the same as it is now:
It's hot as hell outside for three months out of the year.
I read a NYT's article that said heat stroke's much more common in the start of summer than the end, so I made a conscious effort to get out walking a ton during this years first heat dome... and I'm pretty sure it works pretty well?
Even on humid, hot days with feels like 100 I can get out and bike pretty dang far at this point (non-electric 45 lb Citi Bikes here in NYC)
The downside is that I start sweating absolutely profusely basically the moment I step outside now :sob:
For context here though, much prefer the cold, and have never been a fan of the hot, humid, heat really unless I'm at the beach. But this year's been decent!
I don’t even work out with kettlebells and TRX in my AV/exercise/VR room when it is hot. I do get what exercise I can when it is cool but I haven’t been getting up before to hike this year because I’ve come to understand how important sleep is to my mental health. (e.g. back when I was getting up before sunrise to get a 6 mile walk in every morning my mental health wasn’t good)
There's a reason people flock to the coasts. I grew up in the deep southern US. It was hot and humid, but we spent all day every day outside. We either went to the beach or played in the river. You just get used to the heat. We barely had AC until I was 15 or so and we could afford a house with central HVAC.
I'd be interested to see them also test for physical activity indoors while surrounded by houseplants or other greenery, as well as high lux indoor lighting to simulate sunlight exposure.
There's been other studies that showed just looking at nature can improve cognitive function and mental health, including house plants. I suspect, outside of the benefits of sunlight exposure, it's less about outside vs. inside and more being in/around greenery/plants.
I think these type of studies would be more interesting if they controlled for lighting levels/type and air quality. What exactly is the difference between indoor and outdoor here?
It's good to have a study like this to first confirm that there is a difference. If you jump right to factors, and you study the wrong ones, you might miss the real difference.
Patiently waiting for the skeptical comment, or the more recent formula "we should put that in a drug so people can have the benefits of outdoor exercise without leaving their room!"
To keep things simple, "activity is better for cognition". It doesn't have to be outside. Let's start with just promoting any activity...
There's already well-known studies showing that doing physical activity _before_ the school day starts, and then having the most challenging/cognition intense classes first, following the physical activity, boosts learning.
See the book Spark[1] to learn more.
[1] https://a.co/d/2ZCabyM
I'm not exactly "young" anymore, but when I was, the main reason I didn't like physical outdoor activities over physical indoor activities is the same as it is now:
It's hot as hell outside for three months out of the year.
I read a NYT's article that said heat stroke's much more common in the start of summer than the end, so I made a conscious effort to get out walking a ton during this years first heat dome... and I'm pretty sure it works pretty well?
Even on humid, hot days with feels like 100 I can get out and bike pretty dang far at this point (non-electric 45 lb Citi Bikes here in NYC)
The downside is that I start sweating absolutely profusely basically the moment I step outside now :sob:
For context here though, much prefer the cold, and have never been a fan of the hot, humid, heat really unless I'm at the beach. But this year's been decent!
I don’t even work out with kettlebells and TRX in my AV/exercise/VR room when it is hot. I do get what exercise I can when it is cool but I haven’t been getting up before to hike this year because I’ve come to understand how important sleep is to my mental health. (e.g. back when I was getting up before sunrise to get a 6 mile walk in every morning my mental health wasn’t good)
There's a reason people flock to the coasts. I grew up in the deep southern US. It was hot and humid, but we spent all day every day outside. We either went to the beach or played in the river. You just get used to the heat. We barely had AC until I was 15 or so and we could afford a house with central HVAC.
There are benefits to heat training, assuming it's not insta-heatstroke temps: https://www.outsideonline.com/health/running/training/heat-t...
So you like "only" for 9 months of the year?
Eh, it's cold for another three, then stormy for the other six.
They joys of living along where the jet stream dips in North America.
As we say in Scandinavia: there's no bad weather, just bad clothes.
If I'm in Scandinavia, this isn't a problem.
Sometimes nudity is not an option when it goes above 100F.
Yes, imagine the sunburns.
There's beaches, pools, lakes if you really can't be in the heat.
Eventually you just get used to it.
Cold sucks though, glad I left that lol
I'd be interested to see them also test for physical activity indoors while surrounded by houseplants or other greenery, as well as high lux indoor lighting to simulate sunlight exposure.
There's been other studies that showed just looking at nature can improve cognitive function and mental health, including house plants. I suspect, outside of the benefits of sunlight exposure, it's less about outside vs. inside and more being in/around greenery/plants.
I think these type of studies would be more interesting if they controlled for lighting levels/type and air quality. What exactly is the difference between indoor and outdoor here?
It's good to have a study like this to first confirm that there is a difference. If you jump right to factors, and you study the wrong ones, you might miss the real difference.
Patiently waiting for the skeptical comment, or the more recent formula "we should put that in a drug so people can have the benefits of outdoor exercise without leaving their room!"
[delayed]
If outside wasn't full of cars children could walk/cycle to school. It's become so much more difficult to be outside in recent decades.
Surprise: water is wet. But might be surprise news to tech indoor bros.
> Outdoor physical activity is more beneficial than indoor physical activity for cognition in young people
Why did you drop "physical" from the title?
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