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University of Bristol: Surroundings affect rhythm of an individual's walk, according to new study.

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ENPNewswire-September 7, 2021--University of Bristol: Surroundings affect rhythm of an individual's walk, according to new study

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Release date- 06092021 - Stepping patterns become slower and more variable if a person is uncomfortable with their surroundings, researchers have found.

Scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered that people who felt more at ease in urban environments had as regular stepping patterns as folk who felt relaxed walking in nature.

The findings, published in PLoS One, show that rather than being a quality exclusive to natural environments, the key factor of an environment is how comfortable people feel in it and that defines how beneficial it is for wellbeing. This means that a well-designed urban environment can be similarly beneficial for concentration and attention as natural surroundings.

Lead author Daria Burtan of Bristol's School of Psychological Science said: 'Measuring the changes of a person's walking patterns through an environment allows us to understand their experienced comfort on a moment-to-moment basis.

'This is an important step toward being able to objectively quantify the impact of particular architectural designs on people's wellbeing.'

Scientists have previously shown that spending time in green spaces such as parks helps improve attention spans, concentration and wellbeing which can be shown by improvements in measured stepping patterns when walking in different environments.

Daria added: 'As our cognitive faculties begin to decline in older age, the stepping patterns we...

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