Tuesday, January 15, 2013  Nature helps your brain  I came
across this recent scientific article, while looking for studies
of diatoms in the Sierra, and in some ways it seemed relevant to
my theme of doing research in wild and remote places.  The
authors claim that time outdoors, in nature, disconnects us from
the electronic media stimuli most of us receive in excess.  This
disconnection allows our brains to function a little
differently, and in their tests, better.  Humphrey's Basin, 2010
The researchers, psychologists from University of Kansas and
University of Utah, utilized Outward Bound groups to test their
hypothesis that exposure to technology and cognitive function
are negatively related.  Some Outward Bound participants took
'brain-teaser' types of tests prior to their wilderness trips,
and other took them on the fourth day of the trip.  The authors
report: "...immersion in nature, and the corresponding
disconnection from multi-media and technology, increases
performance on a creativity, problem-sol