Would you take a cold plunge into a… better mood?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Imagine cold water on your skin… not for a second, but for FIVE minutes! How do you think you would feel after that?
Ala Yankouskaya from Bournemouth University and team explored mood and brain changes after cold water immersion.
Thirty-three healthy adults undertook a whole-body bath at sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, for five-minutes. Brain imaging was used to look at regions activated by the cold water experience. This was also paired with a self-reported survey on changes in emotional state.
Results? After a cold water bath, participants felt more active, alert, attentive, proud, and inspired. They were also less distressed and nervous!
The changes in positive emotions were associated with the connection between certain brain areas. These are areas involved in attention control, emotion, and self-regulation.
So maybe next time you’re in a funk, you should go jump in the lake! For your health.
Reference: Yankouskaya, A., Williamson, R., Stacey, C., Totman, J. J., & Massey, H. (2023). Short-term head-out whole-body cold-water immersion facilitates positive affect and increases interaction between large-scale brain networks. Biology, 12(2), 211. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12020211