Attention Restoration Theory (ART) predicts exposure to natural environments may lead to improved cognitive performance through restoration of a limited cognitive resource, directed attention. A recent review by Ohly and colleagues (2016) uncovered substantial ambiguity surrounding details of directed attention and how cognitive restoration was tested. Therefore, an updated systematic review was conducted to identify relevant cognitive domains from which to describe elements of directed attention sensitive to the restoration effect. Forty-two articles that tested natural environments or stimuli against a suitable control, and included an objective measure of cognitive performance, had been published since July 2013. Articles were subjected to screening procedures and quality appraisal. Random effects meta-analyses were performed to calculate pooled effect sizes across 8 cognitive domains using data from 49 individual outcome measures. Results showed that working memory, cognitive flexibility, and to a less-reliable degree, attentional control, are improved after exposure to natural environments, with low to moderate effect sizes. Moderator analyses revealed that actual exposures to real environments may enhance the restoration effect within these three domains, relative to virtual exposures; however, this may also be due to differences in the typical lengths of exposure. The effect of a participants' restoration potential, based upon diagnosis or fatigue-induction, was less clear. A new framework is presented to qualify the involvement of directed attention-related processes, using examples of tasks from the three cognitive domains found to be sensitive to the restoration effect. The review clarifies the description of cognitive processes sensitive to natural environments, using current evidence, while exploring aspects of protocol that appear influential to the strength of the restoration effect.

Exposure to nature improves cognitive performance through a process of cognitive restoration. However, few studies have explored the effect in children, and no studies have explored how eye movements “in the wild” with mobile eye tracking technology contribute to the restoration process. Our results demonstrated that just a 30-min walk in a natural environment was sufficient to produce a faster and more stable pattern of responding on the Attention Network Task, compared with an urban environment. Exposure to the natural environment did not improve executive (directed) attention performance. This pattern of results supports suggestions that children and adults experience unique cognitive benefits from nature. Further, we provide the first evidence of a link between cognitive restoration and the allocation of eye gaze. Participants wearing a mobile eye-tracker exhibited higher fixation rates while walking in the natural environment compared to the urban environment. The data go some way in uncovering the mechanisms sub-serving the restoration effect in children and elaborate how nature may counteract the effects of mental fatigue.

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