Study of brain activity in old folks and bonsai

[rockm]

Ran across these studies a few days ago. Nothing really revolutionary, but reinforces what we already knew--although actually making and keeping bonsai can result in the direct opposite of calm

Physiological Effects of Viewing Bonsai in Elderly Patients Undergoing Rehabilitation

The benefits of various nature-derived stimuli that can be used for stress relief and relaxation has recently gained immense attention; however, there are very few studies about their influence on elderly patients. The present study aims to present the ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effects of Visual Stimulation with Bonsai Trees on Adult Male Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Nature therapy has been demonstrated to induce physiological relaxation. The psychophysiological effects of nature therapy (stimulation with bonsai trees) on adult male patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) were examined. Oxyhemoglobin concentration ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

A weird ass photo--

Effects of Visual Stimulation with Bonsai Trees on Adult Male Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Nature therapy has been demonstrated to induce physiological relaxation. The psychophysiological effects of nature therapy (stimulation with bonsai trees) on adult male patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) were examined. Oxyhemoglobin concentration ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Kodama]

WOW...great find! Thanks for sharing.

 

[GreatLakesBrad]

Thanks for sharing. I've been telling me wife it's important for my mental health - now I can use actual studies to justify future purchases of pots and trees

In all seriousness, no matter what my day at work looks like, I am centered by working on my trees, if only for 10-20 minutes. Any activity will do - re-positioning a tree for sun optimization, watering, pruning, or even just picking one out to monitor its progress. It's therapeutic.

 

[Paradox]

Ran across these studies a few days ago. Nothing really revolutionary, but reinforces what we already knew--although actually making and keeping bonsai can result in the direct opposite of calm

I think you mean reading bonsai forums can be the opposite, especially discussions about soil.

 

[Kanorin]

Very cool.

If I had to guess - if a similar study was conducted where the participant was asked to "doom scroll" social media or read through news headlines from the last few years, that would have quite the opposite effect.

So many research studies focus on quantity of life (it's straightforward to measure this), but largely ignore quality of life. Quality of life is a tough idea to measure in a scientific way, but this study takes a little piece of that and measures it. And that's worth something.

 

[Michael P]

The whole area of nature therapy is a hot topic in my profession, landscape architecture. But nature isn't very portable, and medical constraints can prevent taking a suffering person to nature. Bonsai are VERY portable (excluding two person trees and larger). I see a volunteer opportunity for temporary bonsai displays in medical and rehabilitation facilities,

 

[Kanorin]

The whole area of nature therapy is a hot topic in my profession, landscape architecture. But nature isn't very portable, and medical constraints can prevent taking a suffering person to nature. Bonsai are VERY portable (excluding two person trees and larger). I see a volunteer opportunity for temporary bonsai displays in medical and rehabilitation facilities,

I was thinking the same thing!

 

[Mikecheck123]

This is a real diagram.

 

[michaelj]

Slightly on topic: I lowered my blood pressure by 40 points on the top number by taking up bonsai in 2012. No change to diet, no change to exercise except working on my trees.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Slightly on topic: I lowered my blood pressure by 40 points on the top number by taking up bonsai in 2012. No change to diet, no change to exercise except working on my trees.

Any bloodletting?

 

[DavidBoren]

Cool. Thabk you for sharing. Everyone kind of just rolls their eyes when I am out messing with my trees... but it's my happy place. Staring at my stupid trees in quiet contemplation does wonders for my anxiety/depression/PTSD.

 

[Michael P]

Trees are never stupid, but we sometimes do stupid things to them.

 

[Ming dynasty]

Thanks for sharing. I've been telling me wife it's important for my mental health - now I can use actual studies to justify future purchases of pots and trees

In all seriousness, no matter what my day at work looks like, I am centered by working on my trees, if only for 10-20 minutes. Any activity will do - re-positioning a tree for sun optimization, watering, pruning, or even just picking one out to monitor its progress. It's therapeutic.

I can relate to this. Recently got into this lifestyle. No longer a hobby lol

 

[penumbra]

no change to exercise except working on my trees.

And this can be significant.

 

[michaelj]

And this can be significant.

That's true. It can be a fair bit of exercise. It got me thinking. Is it the exercise or is it the trees? So I decided to find out. I took my BP on Friday right after work. Then I did some non-strenuous work on a tree and struck some cuttings. Then measured again. It was a substantial drop over an hour or two.

I shot video of it and will post it on my YouTube channel at the end of this week.

 

[Kanorin]

That's true. It can be a fair bit of exercise. It got me thinking. Is it the exercise or is it the trees? So I decided to find out. I took my BP on Friday right after work. Then I did some non-strenuous work on a tree and struck some cuttings. Then measured again. It was a substantial drop over an hour or two.

I shot video of it and will post it on my YouTube channel at the end of this week.

I believe it. Petting a dog, cat, or other pet has been documented to have a similar effect. And that's definitely not strenuous.

Maybe part of it is that it's good/healthy/relaxing to care for another living thing. Maybe part of it is that when one's mind can focus on a simple task at hand for an hour or two it allows us to not think about or stress about other stressors that might be going on in our lives at work/home/on the internet/whatever else.

Maybe part of it is even more primal than that. I don't think there are any primate species (or if there are one or two, they are the exception) who live in desert or barren habitats. Perhaps part of why we feel calm around trees is because the presence of trees means a source of water and often a source of food (either fruit or animals that live in forests). Even if we are not thinking about those things explicitly.

 

[michaelj]

Allowing me to not think about or stress about other stressors is certainly a big part of it. Going outside, even just to water my trees, acts as a reset on my day and puts the stress of work behind me until the next day. However, working with trees adds a little more even to that. It's like the difference between going for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner versus going for a walk in the woods.

 

[Paradox]

Yea I always find the distraction of working on my trees and having to think about the tree and what I am doing to be relaxing.
Except when I have a lot of wiring to do. That can get very tiring and if I'm not in the right mood, frustrating

 

[michaelj]

While further researching bonsai and its effect on health, I learned that bonsai is a slang name for a synthetic cannabis also known as spice.

Giant J (Osborn) Wave due to Bonsai Abuse: Comments on Clinical Practice

Osborn wave, typically associated with hypothermia, is currently referred to as one of the J wave syndromes due to its clinical potential to develop lethal cardiac arrhythmia; it may rarely be observed in a non-hypothermic setting such as cannabis abuse.In ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[nuttiest]

While further researching bonsai and its effect on health, I learned that bonsai is a slang name for a synthetic cannabis also known as spice.

Giant J (Osborn) Wave due to Bonsai Abuse: Comments on Clinical Practice

Osborn wave, typically associated with hypothermia, is currently referred to as one of the J wave syndromes due to its clinical potential to develop lethal cardiac arrhythmia; it may rarely be observed in a non-hypothermic setting such as cannabis abuse.In ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

that is the one pronounced differently, right?