A new experiment found that sitting in a restored urban forest while listening to birdsong lowered people’s stress and improved their mood more than any other setting tested.Researchers had 106 students at North Carolina State University in the U.S. sit in either a restored forest or a paved plaza while hearing birdsong or traffic noise, isolating the effects of place and sound.Both the natural setting and the birdsong helped independently, and the benefits were largest when combined.The forest was a human-made restoration completed in 2006, suggesting cities could build mental-health benefits into parks rather than relying on remote wilderness.
Sitting in a small, restored forest while listening to birdsong lowered people’s stress and lifted their mood in the moment, according to a recent study published in the journal Environmental Conservation.
Researchers asked 106 students at North Carolina State University in the U.S. to sit outdoors in noise-canceling headphones at two spots on campus: A strip of riparian forest restored two decades ago and a paved plaza facing a road intersection. At each location, participants listened to 10 minutes of birdsong and 10 minutes of traffic noise, in random order, then rated their stress, their positive and negative feelings, and how mentally restored they felt.
