[HN Gopher] Outdoor activity is better for cognition than indoor...
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Outdoor activity is better for cognition than indoor activity in
young people
Author : PaulHoule
Score : 56 points
Date : 2025-07-21 16:31 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.sciencedirect.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.sciencedirect.com)
| manco wrote:
| > Outdoor physical activity is more beneficial than indoor
| physical activity for cognition in young people
|
| Why did you drop "physical" from the title?
| PaulHoule wrote:
| 80 character limit
| lenerdenator wrote:
| I'm not exactly "young" anymore, but when I was, the main reason
| I didn't like physical outdoor activities over physical indoor
| activities is the same as it is now:
|
| It's hot as hell outside for three months out of the year.
| inerte wrote:
| So you like "only" for 9 months of the year?
| lenerdenator wrote:
| Eh, it's cold for another three, then stormy for the other
| six.
|
| They joys of living along where the jet stream dips in North
| America.
| piva00 wrote:
| As we say in Scandinavia: there's no bad weather, just bad
| clothes.
| eYrKEC2 wrote:
| Sometimes nudity is not an option when it goes above
| 100F.
| edflsafoiewq wrote:
| Yes, imagine the sunburns.
| lenerdenator wrote:
| If I'm in Scandinavia, this isn't a problem.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| I don't even work out with kettlebells and TRX in my
| AV/exercise/VR room when it is hot. I do get what exercise I
| can when it is cool but I haven't been getting up before to
| hike this year because I've come to understand how important
| sleep is to my mental health. (e.g. back when I was getting up
| before sunrise to get a 6 mile walk in every morning my mental
| health wasn't good)
| tayo42 wrote:
| There's beaches, pools, lakes if you really can't be in the
| heat.
|
| Eventually you just get used to it.
|
| Cold sucks though, glad I left that lol
| matwood wrote:
| There's a reason people flock to the coasts. I grew up in the
| deep southern US. It was hot and humid, but we spent all day
| every day outside. We either went to the beach or played in the
| river. You just get used to the heat. We barely had AC until I
| was 15 or so and we could afford a house with central HVAC.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| I think you just get used to the miserable sensation where
| used to it = acceptance.
| codyb wrote:
| I read a NYT's article that said heat stroke's much more common
| in the start of summer than the end, so I made a conscious
| effort to get out walking a ton during this years first heat
| dome... and I'm pretty sure it works pretty well?
|
| Even on humid, hot days with feels like 100 I can get out and
| bike pretty dang far at this point (non-electric 45 lb Citi
| Bikes here in NYC)
|
| The downside is that I start sweating absolutely profusely
| basically the moment I step outside now :sob:
|
| For context here though, much prefer the cold, and have never
| been a fan of the hot, humid, heat really unless I'm at the
| beach. But this year's been decent!
| cesnja wrote:
| Heat adaptation is a thing.
| carabiner wrote:
| There are benefits to heat training, assuming it's not insta-
| heatstroke temps:
| https://www.outsideonline.com/health/running/training/heat-t...
| chubot wrote:
| I think your body has natural mechanisms to mitigate that
| initial discomfort.
|
| I am now sitting under a tree, after biking in 85 degree
| weather in July on the east coast. I've also biked in 90 and 95
| degree weather.
|
| And I don't feel hot at all. Going outside might seem
| unpleasant, but once you're out there, it's not just fine, but
| refreshing
|
| I don't know exactly why, but it's probably sweat, clothing,
| basic metabolism, and basic psychological facts (perception is
| often triggered by change)
|
| Likewise, I bike in cold weather (all 12 months on the east
| coast). I think it is pretty established that this is both
| tolerable and healthy - ie it's a mild version of the people
| who swim in freezing lakes in the dead of winter
|
| And keep in mind I worked in an office my whole career, and
| have never competed in a single sporting event in my life
| (although I do like some sports)
| blamarvt wrote:
| I think that's great for you. Truly.
|
| Could it be that your experience doesn't apply to everyone?
|
| I've been living in the same area as you, and I go for walks
| almost daily; it's astonishingly miserable out.
|
| I have a friend who does almost identical physical activity
| to me, as we have similar jobs. He sweats very little when
| outside unless physically exerting himself. I sweat profusely
| when just walking; even when wearing significantly less
| clothing.
| chubot wrote:
| Sure, it doesn't apply to everyone.
|
| And personally, I don't like walking long distances in the
| heat either -- I get hot and sweaty. I prefer biking,
| probably because the motion is more cooling
|
| ---
|
| But also, the vast majority of all humans who have lived in
| the last 10,000 years were farmers. Whether they lived or
| died depended on going outside. And we only transitioned
| away from the agricultural lifestyle in the last ~200
| years, so it's almost certainly not a genetic thing
|
| But of course it's possible that being raised indoors means
| one can't tolerate being outside, or something like that.
| It's certainly a fine choice to stay indoors if one
| prefers.
|
| (But FWIW I would say I was raised indoors, and with a
| suburban car lifestyle, and I now like going outside. I
| find it's good for both mood and cognition, which seems in
| line with the article. I used to live in California where
| that was more obviously appealing due to the climate, but I
| find it's also nice on the east coast.)
| pengaru wrote:
| > I think your body has natural mechanisms to mitigate that
| initial discomfort.
|
| I think the main natural mechanism the body uses is
| endorphins..
|
| In my experience it also benefits from training, coming on
| quicker at the start of a regularly strenuous lasting
| activity. When I started going on runs regularly I could
| clearly sense when the internal drug supply turned on and it
| became the point where I mentally marked transitioning from a
| short sprint to endurance mode.
|
| I've also noticed when taking people on long hikes who don't
| usually do such things, if we take an extended break they
| usually start complaining of aches and pains and are suddenly
| wrecked. My assumption has been this is the endorphin supply
| shutting off, and it's a tough hump to overcome to get
| flowing again now that the pain/soreness/exhaustion has
| become realized. I suspect folks who aren't accustomed to
| getting out and active at all are kind of pre-trapped in that
| state and don't reach the endorphins flowing mode even once
| before going back indoors to play vidya.
| seventhtiger wrote:
| Something crazy I've experience is when I swam in an outdoors
| pool every morning early for a while. This involves several
| temperature shocks, like jumping into the shower (hot), then
| walking from the shower to the pool (cold), then jumping into
| the pool (very cold initially, then ok), then walking back to
| the shower then showering again. This whole routine happens
| over just 60 minutes.
|
| Other than the overall health and wellness I got I normally
| associated with exercise, and improved breathing because of
| swimming, I felt immune to temperature discomfort! After a
| while, the routine itself didn't bother, nor walking 15 minutes
| from the parking lot to my office under 50C summer sun at noon.
| I could go out in winter in any clothes I want.
|
| It was very noticable and very specific. Sensitivity to
| temperature itself may be a form of unfitness.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| These kinds of theories along with "you just need to
| acclimate to it" always hit a wall when they meet me, someone
| in great shape who grew up around Houston (where it's
| miserable) and sweats all day unless it's <80F with no
| humidity.
|
| Right now I live on a beach that's 85F outside and I will be
| the only person profusely sweating tonight while most people
| don't even seem to have a sheen. I first noticed it when I
| moved to this beach newly single and was going on dates--it's
| a little confusing/embarrassing looking like you swam to the
| date yet nobody else is sweating.
|
| Every once in a while I meet someone like me with a body made
| for the Swiss mountains. And every once in a while I meet the
| polar opposite: someone who can walk around in the Texas
| summer with pants and a polo.
|
| I think it's 90% genetic. And muscle mass only makes you
| sweat more.
| thewebguyd wrote:
| I'd be interested to see them also test for physical activity
| indoors while surrounded by houseplants or other greenery, as
| well as high lux indoor lighting to simulate sunlight exposure.
|
| There's been other studies that showed just looking at nature can
| improve cognitive function and mental health, including house
| plants. I suspect, outside of the benefits of sunlight exposure,
| it's less about outside vs. inside and more being in/around
| greenery/plants.
| venkat223 wrote:
| I agree with your lighting comment outside sunlight and
| polarised light affect the body metabolism differently, Indoors
| kidney works more than outdoors.Also oxygen levels and humidity
| are better outdoors than indoors.
| thefz wrote:
| Patiently waiting for the skeptical comment, or the more recent
| formula "we should put that in a drug so people can have the
| benefits of outdoor exercise without leaving their room!"
| criddell wrote:
| > we should put that in a drug
|
| If it can be done, it will be done and should be done.
| jasonpeacock wrote:
| To keep things simple, "activity is better for cognition". It
| doesn't have to be outside. Let's start with just promoting any
| activity...
|
| There's already well-known studies showing that doing physical
| activity _before_ the school day starts, and then having the most
| challenging/cognition intense classes first, following the
| physical activity, boosts learning.
|
| See the book Spark[1] to learn more.
|
| [1] https://a.co/d/2ZCabyM
| zug_zug wrote:
| These charts show that the outdoor exercise is better than
| twice as good as indoors in several respects.
| globular-toast wrote:
| If outside wasn't full of cars children could walk/cycle to
| school. It's become so much more difficult to be outside in
| recent decades.
| upofadown wrote:
| I think these type of studies would be more interesting if they
| controlled for lighting levels/type and air quality. What exactly
| is the difference between indoor and outdoor here?
| phyzome wrote:
| It's good to have a study like this to first confirm that there
| _is_ a difference. If you jump right to factors, and you study
| the wrong ones, you might miss the real difference.
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