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Effect of Indoor Forest Bathing on Reducing Feelings of Fatigue Using Cerebral Activity as an Indicator

Author

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  • Chie Imamura

    (Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., Nagakute 480-1192, Japan)

  • Kiyomi Sakakibara

    (Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., Nagakute 480-1192, Japan)

  • Kyosuke Arai

    (Frontier Research Center, Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota 471-8572, Japan)

  • Hideki Ohira

    (Department of Psychology, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan)

  • Yuhei Yamaguchi

    (Frontier Research Center, Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota 471-8572, Japan)

  • Hitoshi Yamada

    (Frontier Research Center, Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota 471-8572, Japan)

Abstract

We created an indoor forest bathing environment in a sunlight-type environmentally controlled chamber and both physiological and psychological measurements were conducted for the evaluation of mental fatigue reduction. At first, a working memory load experiment was performed among 10 participants in a space without plants to identify an indicator correlating with feelings of fatigue, using the cerebral activity of the prefrontal cortex. Then, the indicator was used to evaluate whether a 20-min exposure to an indoor forest bathing environment reduced the level of the feeling of fatigue. The working memory load experiment demonstrated that, when mental fatigue increased, the amount of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) in the right prefrontal cortex and the right-left difference in oxy-Hb (ΔRL oxy-Hb) in the prefrontal cortex increased. These were proposed as indicators of mental fatigue. In the indoor forest bathing experiment, staying in an indoor green space showed that the subjective values of feeling of fatigue decreased and ΔRL oxy-Hb decreased. Since these results demonstrated an opposite effect to the increase in ΔRL oxy-Hb related to the feeling of fatigue, it was inferred that the decrease in ΔRL oxy-Hb reflected the fatigue reduction in the indoor forest bathing environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Chie Imamura & Kiyomi Sakakibara & Kyosuke Arai & Hideki Ohira & Yuhei Yamaguchi & Hitoshi Yamada, 2022. "Effect of Indoor Forest Bathing on Reducing Feelings of Fatigue Using Cerebral Activity as an Indicator," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:11:p:6672-:d:827878
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chorong Song & Harumi Ikei & Yoshifumi Miyazaki, 2018. "Physiological Effects of Visual Stimulation with Forest Imagery," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-11, January.
    2. Rikuto Yamashita & Chong Chen & Toshio Matsubara & Kosuke Hagiwara & Masato Inamura & Kohei Aga & Masako Hirotsu & Tomoe Seki & Akiyo Takao & Erika Nakagawa & Ayumi Kobayashi & Yuko Fujii & Keiko Hira, 2021. "The Mood-Improving Effect of Viewing Images of Nature and Its Neural Substrate," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-11, May.
    3. Sin-Ae Park & Chorong Song & Yun-Ah Oh & Yoshifumi Miyazaki & Ki-Cheol Son, 2017. "Comparison of Physiological and Psychological Relaxation Using Measurements of Heart Rate Variability, Prefrontal Cortex Activity, and Subjective Indexes after Completing Tasks with and without Foliag," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-12, September.
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    1. Davide Donelli & Francesco Meneguzzo & Michele Antonelli & Diego Ardissino & Giampaolo Niccoli & Giorgio Gronchi & Rita Baraldi & Luisa Neri & Federica Zabini, 2023. "Effects of Plant-Emitted Monoterpenes on Anxiety Symptoms: A Propensity-Matched Observational Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-16, February.

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