Marc Berman, "Nature and the Mind: The Science of How Nature Improves Cognitive, Physical, and Social Well-Being" (Simon and Schuster, 2025)

Jan 8, 2026

Mark Berman, a cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory, shares his groundbreaking insights on how nature affects our minds and bodies. He reveals that a simple stroll in a green space can significantly boost attention and decrease symptoms of depression. Berman discusses the benefits of environmental design, from the impact of trees on health to the restorative power of soft natural stimuli over harsh urban settings. His nature prescriptions offer practical guidance for enhancing mental, physical, and social well-being.

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INSIGHT

Attention Restoration Mechanism

Directed attention is a limited mental resource that becomes fatigued through prolonged top-down focus.
Nature restores directed attention by engaging effortless involuntary attention with softly fascinating stimuli.

INSIGHT

Digital Life Shortens Focus

Modern digital stimulation is often harshly fascinating and can further deplete directed attention.
Shorter public attention spans across media reflect increased directed-attention fatigue in society.

INSIGHT

Fractals Make Nature Easier To Process

Natural scenes contain fractal, scale-free patterns that the brain processes more fluently than rigid built environments.
This perceptual fluency likely underpins nature's restorative cognitive effects.

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Dr. Marc Berman, the pioneering creator of the field of environmental neuroscience, has discovered the surprising connection between mind, body, and environment, with a special emphasis on the natural environment. He has devoted his life to studying it. If you sometimes feel drained, distracted, or depressed, Dr. Berman has identified the elements of a “nature prescription” that can boost your energy, sharpen your focus, change your mood, and improve your mental and physical health. He also reveals how central attention is to all of these functions, and how interactions with nature can restore it. Nature and the Mind is both an introduction to a revolutionary new scientific field and a helpful guide to better living.

In these pages, he draws on his original research and research from others and shares life-altering findings such as:
-Just eleven more trees on your street can decrease cardio-metabolic disorders like stroke, diabetes, and heart disease.
-A short walk in nature can improve attention by almost twenty percent, decrease depression symptoms, and make people feel more spiritual and self-reflective.
-More greenspace around schools and homes is related to better school performance, reduced crime, and improved working memory.
-Many of these effects can be achieved even if you don’t like nature.
With an engaging and approachable style, Dr. Berman offers the nature prescription for physical health, mental health, and social health. Importantly, you don’t have to pack up your house and move to the country to participate. The nature prescription includes practical ways to bring the outside indoors and to “naturize” our spaces, no matter where you live. The positive effects of nature don’t just end at the individual; contact with nature can make people more caring towards one another, encourage people to care more for the environment, and more.
This groundbreaking guide explains why and how nature is good for our brains and bodies and gives us a window into fundamental aspects of our psychology and physiology that can be improved through interactions with nature.

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