The scientific reason why many outdoor people are "fresh people," and indoor people are "always irritated people."

2023年08月13日

現代社会では非活動的な生活が増えており、多くの人が屋内で長時間を過ごしています。世界保健機関は、世界中で 14 億人が身体活動を怠り、健康上の問題を引き起こしていると報告しています。歴史的に見て、人類は常に移動を続けており、人類の歴史の 95% は移動と移住に集中しています。私たちの脳は屋外での活動や刺激に対応するように配線されています。ドーパミンなどの神経伝達物質は集中力を高めますが、ストレスに関連するコルチゾールは過剰に摂取すると有害になる可能性があります。定期的な低強度の運動は、記憶力、創造性、精神的健康を改善することが科学的に証明されています。また、ストレスを管理し、コルチゾールレベルを抑制するのにも役立ちます。ロボットとは異なり、人間には脳の機能によって動かされ、探索したいという生得的な欲求があります。(English) Modern society has increased inactivity, with many people spending long hours indoors. The World Health Organization reports that 1.4 billion people globally are physically inactive, leading to health issues. Historically, humans were always on the move, with 95% of human history centred around movement and migration. Our brains are wired for outdoor activity and stimuli. Neurotransmitters like dopamine help us focus, while cortisol, associated with stress, can be harmful in excess. Regular low-intensity exercise has been scientifically proven to improve memory, creativity, and mental health. It also helps manage stress, keeping cortisol levels in check. Unlike robots, humans have an innate desire to move and explore, driven by our brain's functions.

The scientific reason why many outdoor people are "fresh people," and indoor people are "always irritated people."

The absolute risk of 'inactivity' as revealed by the latest research

What should I do to reduce stress? Shinichiro Yasukawa, a specially appointed researcher at the University of Tokyo, said: It's essential to exercise so you can breathe a little."

"Recent research has shown that low-intensity exercise improves memory and creativity and promotes a healthy mind. It's scientifically proven," he said.

Modern people, the least active in human history

How many steps have you taken today? "When was the last time you exercised?"

As a corporate employee, I was sucked into the office building, followed by meetings, and after 10 hours, when I left the building, it was pitch black every day.

During the period of self-restraint due to the coronavirus pandemic, I worked remotely, and I think there were many days when I didn't move my body.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.4 billion people worldwide are physically inactive.

When I was an advisor to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, I discussed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Olympic and Paralympic Preparation Bureau how to promote sports habits among the citizens of Tokyo as one of the legacies of the Olympic Games.

In Japan, 35.5% of adults are inactive (33.8% of men and 37.0% of women), and the lack of exercise habits, particularly among young women, has been identified as a problem.

The health benefits of aerobic exercise are already well known, including reducing visceral fat and preventing and improving several lifestyle-related diseases, such as metabolic syndrome-related arteriosclerosis and heart attack.

In addition, research over the last decade has focused on the effects of exercise on improving brain function and mental health.

I think everyone has experienced the feeling of being refreshed by exercise and sweating. Recent research has scientifically proven that low-intensity exercise improves memory, creativity and a healthy mind.

The "1000 brains" advocated by neuroscientist Hawkins

When I was a consultant for a robot development company, I thought again about the smooth coordination of human sensory organs, brain functions and body organs while riding my hobby road bike.

From the information coming into your field of vision, you can anticipate the strength of the shock caused by a small step on the road surface or tilting the steering wheel slightly to avoid pebbles. The physical function of rowing is not something that a robot can easily imitate.

There is a theory called "Thousand Brains" by neuroscientist Jeff Hawkins.

The idea is that the brain has a "coordinate system" that describes the position of an object and how it changes and that each time it moves, the predictive model of the cortical column of the cerebrum learns and predicts the new environment, giving rise to thoughts and experiences.

This "sensorimotor learning" occurs in all our daily activities (picking up a cup of coffee in front of us, walking down the stairs, etc.).

95% of human history is the history of movement and travel.

The main point of this discovery is that the human brain activates neurons in response to changes in sensory information due to "place movement" and directs thoughts and actions.

In other words, the human brain is designed to be most active outdoors, moving, exercising and exposed to different stimuli, rather than indoors.

From the time humans were born until they settled down and started farming, the long history of humans was one of travelling and migrating as hunter-gatherers, hunting large animals. The ancestors of modern humans are said to have lived in sub-Saharan Botswana.

It is said that they left Africa, crossed Eurasia, went to the United States and travelled 50,000 kilometres to the island of Tierra del Fuego in South America.

It was named after the "great journey" of humanity). In this sense, 95% of human history is the history of hunter-gatherers and the history of movement and migration.

The neurotransmitter that makes you go on the "hunt."

Our behaviour is controlled by various neurotransmitters, which also guide us on our hunting journeys to new places. When you encounter a natural enemy or prey during a hunt, the information is perceived as stress, cortisol is released, and the brain and body decide whether to fight (Fight), flee (Flight), or defend themselves by freezing (Freeze). It means into fight mode.

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Another neurotransmitter, dopamine, also functions to filter out noise from the information coming from the sensory centre and focus on what is in front of you. Dopamine helps me focus on my reading and work, even in the hustle and bustle of a cafe or co-working space.

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Or, even when you're concentrating, you can suddenly turn your attention to the conversation when you hear your name nearby. Thanks to predictive learning models and dopamine in the "cortical column". When you expect your name will not be mentioned, the neurons are activated at a level that does not reach the action potential level.

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It is said that AI is not very good at "extracting meaningful information in a crowd". This is because AI has no concept of self-awareness, or semantic extraction for that matter, and cannot (unless pre-programmed) determine what is meaningful in the speech information uniformly collected by the microphones.

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No robots shed tears while looking at the scenery from the train window.

The AI in robots currently only has the intelligence to carry out specific tasks ordered by humans, much like human neurotransmitters that motivate various actions for self-preservation and self-replication—No autonomous functions.

Machines and robots never take steps that are not pre-programmed. They may collect some sensor data and learn specific movements, but they certainly don't experience emotions.

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All living things act autonomously with their own will to survive. Even micro-organisms can "taxis'' to move their bodies in a direction relative to a stimulus source.

It can be said that it is because of such essential functions of the brain that we, as living beings, feel the urge to leave the comfort of our homes and travel to an unfamiliar place.

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We like to gaze vaguely at the landscape through the train window. But no AI goes on a wandering journey, or a robot suddenly tears up while gazing at the scenery from the train window. Our brain's hallmark is a fundamental desire to move and move (HI/Human Intelligence).

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The problem isn't the stress it causes; it's the inability to eliminate it.

Stress has a negative connotation of worry and pressure, but it is a "response to external information" essential for survival and growth.

By feeling stress and putting your body into temporary tension, you can face and overcome crises and deal with challenges positively. Stress can also come from setting higher goals. Great athletes enjoy pressure and use it to their advantage.

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However, due to the mismatch between our bodies, which has not changed since the days of hunter-gatherers, and modern society, we can find ourselves in situations where we cannot escape stress.

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Gone are the days when the causes of human death were starvation, infectious disease, murder, childbirth and haemorrhage. But we can still understand life's dangers as an abstract concept, so the mere thought of getting into a dangerous situation causes us stress.

Vague fears about the future of the company, mistrust of bosses whose way of thinking does not fit in, and dissatisfaction with one's abilities and talents do not diminish even when the danger of death is removed.

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Regular exercise can keep you in control.

Prolonged cortisol secretion is said to atrophy the hippocampus, which plays a vital role in short-term memory, and the frontal lobe, including the prefrontal cortex, which controls abstract and analytical thinking.

A stressed and irritable person can no longer be expected to make calm and rational decisions. It has been found that this stress-induced cortisol does not rise excessively with regular exercise.

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When you move your body, your sensory organs are in high gear, allowing you to respond quickly to changes in the external environment, such as avoiding objects coming at you.

By recognising that the body is constantly in a state of movement, the brain may feel that it is engaging in risk-avoidance behaviour, even when cortisol secretion is low. The body can respond quickly to a fight-or-flight state or even when it is simulated by movement.

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Also, athletes and mountain climbers tend to have a calm and refreshing personality, especially during exercise. This is probably because exercise relieves excessive stress in everyday life and keeps you in control of your emotions.