Horticulture & Health - Is Gardening Good for the Brain? Florida Researchers Think Yes.

Feb

When The Group was in Orlando for The Fall Event, some of us stayed over to see The Landscape Show. While we were there, Dr. Tom Yeager of The University of Florida's Horticulture Department, introduced us to Dr. Charlie Guy, Professor of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry at UF and showed us details of a new study underway between the UF's Hort Department and the UF Medical School. Here's some details:

A group of Florida researchers has found a link between gardening and good mental health. Scientists at the University of Florida studied 23 healthy women and preliminary findings show the women who participated in group gardening activities twice a week reported profoundly reduced stress, anxiety, anger, confusion and fatigue. The women also reported significantly more vigor and friendliness than the women in the control group.

Dr. Charles Guy, who led the study, cautions that the findings are still being analyzed but he describes the early results as ‘huge.’ “The fact we could measure anything (in such a small study) in a statistically robust way is surprising,” says Guy. The project is a joint effort between the University of Florida's Medical School and its Horticulture Department. Incidentally, the two schools are next to each other on the UF campus. The official project name is "The Health Benefits of Gardening and People-Plant Interactions - Effects of Gardening on Brain Activity and Health of Women." When you see the list of professionals working on the project, it appears as more medical than hort... here's what Dr. Guy calls the project's "Dream Team": (notice the department disciplines in the investigators list shown in bold)

Study Co-Authors

Christine Penman, B.S., Master’s student, Department of Environmental Horticulture

Charles L. Guy, Ph.D., Professor of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Environmental Horticulture

Study Staff Coordinator/Researcher

•Christine Penman, B.S., Master’s student, Department of Environmental Horticulture

Investigators

•Leah Diehl, ASLA, HTR, Director, Therapeutic Horticulture at Wilmot Gardens, College of Medicine

•Natalie Ebner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology

•Yi Guo, M.S.PH., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Health Care Outcomes and Policy, Department of Health Outcomes and Policy

•Charles L. Guy, Ph.D., Professor of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Environmental Horticulture

•Song Lai, Ph.D. Joint Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Neurology, Department of Radiation Oncology, Director, CTSI Human Imaging Core, McKnight Brain Institute

•Jingfeng Ma, Ph.D., Post-doctoral Research Associate, Department of Radiation Oncology

•Sara Jo Nixon, Ph.D., Chief, Division of Addiction Research, Director, Neurocognitive Laboratory, Professor in Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology

•C. Craig Tisher, M.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Medicine

The women in the study were asked to participate in gardening activities twice a week for six weeks, including seed and bulb planting, plant propagation and tasting herbs. Brain scans and other psychological observation before and after the gardening program revealed the gardeners were significantly less stressed than the control group but Guy points out that not all gardening activities will lead to increased mental health: “preparing a garden is fundamentally different from going out and picking tomatoes on a hundred-degree day.”

Guy says the research owes much to horticultural therapy, but it significantly differs because the subjects of this study were healthy. “What we found in the gardening group was a significant impact,” Guy says. He hopes to have the research published later this year.

Here's an overview poster on the project:

We will provide more details on results as we get them this spring.

Horticulture & Health - Is Gardening Good for the Brain? Florida Researchers Think Yes.

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