In a new podcast, an expert digs into how nature helps the brain recharge.

Hala Darwish is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing and neurology department at Michigan Medicine and assistant dean for community culture at the School of Nursing. Her research integrates neuroscience, mental health, and nursing, with a particular focus on cognitive and emotional functioning among people living with neurologic and psychiatric conditions.

Darwish’s work explores innovative solutions for cognitive impairment, mood disorders, and health disparities, including the use of nature-based virtual reality to bring the restorative power of the outdoors to people who cannot easily access it.

Below, Darwish joins the Michigan Minds podcast to discuss how our surroundings shape how we feel and how well we think. She explains why everyday green spaces—a garden, a neighborhood park, trees along a street—deserve far more attention and how nature can help the brain recover from the constant demands of modern life:

Read the transcript of this episode.

Source: University of Michigan

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