Could pregnancy be a walk in the park if it were… virtual?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Pregnancy is stressful—getting out in nature can ease that—but who has the time? What if technology could take you there, VIRTUALLY? Will SEEING green have the same effect?
Yi Sun and colleagues from the University of California, Irvine investigated.
Participants between eight and fourteen weeks’ pregnant were given a laboratory social stress test. They were randomly assigned to view short immersive V-R videos of outdoors scenery. The videos had different greenery levels: non-green, moderate, and high. Physiological stress responses were measured through blood pressure and saliva enzymes.
Results? The high-green space group had almost five millimeters-of-mercury LOWER systolic blood pressure. There was over one nanograms-per-milliliter reduction in stress enzyme in the saliva concentration too. A high green space V-R had the greatest impacts on stress recovery in pregnant women.
Wow, now no one needs to leave the house! Except dad-to-be, for some hot fudge and. . . pickles.
Reference: Eacock, A., Rowland, H.M., van’t Hof, A.E. et al. Adaptive colour change and background choice behaviour in peppered moth caterpillars is mediated by extraocular photoreception. Commun Biol 2, 286 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0502-7