Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Amid escalating chronic stress in urbanising societies, understanding nature’s role in recovery from stress is critical. Here, we relate daily variation in nature exposure to nighttime activation of the autonomic nervous system, a key stress regulatory system, using 10 months of Global Position Systems and heart rate data from 45 individuals in Gävle, Sweden (3224 person-days). We examined within-person associations of (1) time in nature, (2) active and passive movement, and (3) stationary time or active movement in nature vs. non-natural environments with resting heart rate (RHR) and heart rate variability (HRV), and their moderation by sex. We further explored cumulative exposure associations over different timescales (day, week, and month). Active movement in nature was associated with lower-than-usual RHR and higher-than-usual HRV in the full sample and in females (but not males). We provide within-person real-world evidence that active movement in nature may support nighttime cardiac regulation, which may be beneficial for health.
Source: npj Urban Sustainability
Institutions: Uppsala University, University of Gävle, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, University of Surrey, University of Basel, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Linköping University, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, University of British Columbia, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University
Language: English
Topic: Urban Green Space and Health
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,490
Awards: Urban form for health-promoting activity spaces, G121809054, G1855990336, GeoLife Region Phase 3, G2262748287, G2660406951, G2792670919, G2819494518, G3005324705, The Next Leap in Wireless Spectral Efficiency: Exploiting Spatial Correlation and Distributed Antenna Surfaces, G3252852852, G3423777635, G3480869486, G3518538256, G3681454997, G4016763146, G4042783231, G425668148, G43203158, G4442677895, G4526231891, G4881669756, G5159276886, G521056402, G5421974903, G589846866, G630635040, G6328075693, G6656126374, G7084143925, G7208110030, G7561984395, Building individual and community RESilience thrOugh NATurE-based therapies, G856818794
OpenAlex ID: W7154575765