title: Effect of forest bathing on physiological and psychological responses in young Japanese male subjects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of forest bathing as a natural therapy by investigating its physiological benefits using biological indicators in outdoor settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  Within-group comparisons were used to examine psychological and physiological responses to exposure to real forest and urban environments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Young Japanese male adults participated in a 3-day, 2-night field experiment. Physiological responses as well as self-reported psychological responses to forest and urban environmental stimuli were measured in real settings. The results of each indicator were compared against each environmental stimulus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Heart rate variability analysis indicated that the forest environment significantly increased parasympathetic nervous activity and significantly suppressed sympathetic activity of participants compared with the urban environment. Salivary cortisol level and pulse rate decreased markedly in the forest setting compared with the urban setting. In psychological tests, forest bathing significantly increased scores of positive feelings and significantly decreased scores of negative feelings after stimuli compared with the urban stimuli.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physiological data from this field experiment provide important scientific evidence on the health benefits of forest bathing. The results support the concept that forest bathing has positive effects on physical and mental health, indicating that it can be effective for health promotion. Despite the small sample size in this study, a very clear tendency towards positive physiological and psychological outcomes in forests was observed.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, 6-2-1 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture 277-0882, Japan. juyoung@graduate.chiba-u.jp
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: B-J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsunetsugu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohira
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kagawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D010829:Physiological Phenomena; D012424:Rural Population; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D014197:Trees; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone