Korea Forest Service: "Forest Healing in the Woods Effective in Improving Cognitive and Memory Abilities of the Elderly"

An analysis has shown that forest healing in the woods is effective in improving cognitive function and memory in the elderly.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 10th that it obtained these results by analyzing the effects of participation in the "Anti-Aging Forest Healing Program" operated in national and public healing forests.

The Anti-Aging Forest Healing Program is a type of forest welfare service operated in healing forests nationwide.

Provided by Korea Forest Service

The effect analysis was conducted last year by the Korea Forest Welfare Institute targeting elderly people aged 70 and over who are at risk of dementia. The study divided participants into an experimental group (19 people in the forest) and a control group (14 people indoors) and examined changes before and after participation in the forest healing program.

As a result, those who participated in the program in the forest showed increases of 10% in the Cognitive Impairment Screening Test (CIST) total score, 24% in memory, and 8% in situational cognitive ability (orientation).

Considering that those who participated indoors showed increases of 4% in total score, 2% in memory, and no change (0%) in orientation, the difference is clear.

In particular, brain imaging observed in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment confirmed that after participating in the program, connectivity in motor and sensory-related areas, spatial attention areas, and the medial temporal lobe was strengthened.

Nam Sung-hyun, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, said, “At this point, facing a super-aged society, reducing the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy is a very important task,” and added, “We will continuously develop and operate related programs so that forest healing can be actively utilized for dementia prevention.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.