Birdwatching rewires the brain and slows cognitive decline
Neuroscientists at Baycrest in Toronto found that expert birdwatchers' brains are wired differently in regions for attention and visual recognition, with more organized structure that may protect against age-related decline. In Germany, bird feeders installed at 65 nursing homes improved residents' cognition and wellbeing within weeks, prompting insurers to fund the setup at over 400 facilities across Bavaria. Even watching birds through a window can spark curiosity and calm.
For that moment in time he was present in the moment, he wasn't worried about his memory or his confidence. That is very powerful, in a gentle way.
- ML0037
This article just explained the behaviour I’ve been seeing in my grandfather. He has dementia and used to hunt wild boar (very common in central Italy), but he knew the local wildlife well. Since developing dementia, for obvious reasons, he unfortunately hasn’t been the same. But a group of doves has nested on the gazebo on his terrace, and every year they come back (either them or their offspring). He watches them all day, giving them food and water and following every stage of their growth. It’s beautiful to see nature indirectly helping humans who, let’s be honest, at least in his case, hadn’t done much good for nature.
- RemoteIsHeaven
Is it just the act of birdwatching that rewires the brain and slows cognitive decline, so I can enjoy the same effects by looking at tiktoks of birds, while sitting on my couch eating cheetos?
Or are the hiking, breathing in fresh air, the eyes seeing natural sunlight etc critical to the effects?
So if I swapped the birdwatching with watching horses run or pigs fornicate with everything else being the same (hiking, breathing in fresh air, the eyes seeing natural sunlight etc), I would enjoy the exact same benefits the article claims birdwatching results in?
- FinnLobsien
I believe that we'll see a lot of "x is good for your brain" news (with X just being any activity that doesn't involve a screen), now that attention spans are so short and everyone feels like their brain isn't the same anymore.
The same way we got gyms when people realized physical inactivity is super unhealthy.
- tomaytotomato
Just a bit of anecdata (observer bias).
A lot of, "birdwatchers" I see travelling to remote parts of Scotland and other places in the UK are generally wealthy retirees, with nice kit (Rab clothing, telephoto lenses, VW campervans).
Cognitive decline is shown to impact disproportionately on less wealthy people. So is there a trend with economic wealth and outdoor hobbies like birdwatching? I'd hazard a yes.
On a side note, the Merlin bird ID app from Cornell University is great.
- wateralien
Bird interest will find you once you cross 40 whether you were into birds or not. It just happens.
- grendelt
I'm into ham radio which, as a hobby, skews to an older demographic. Does just having a stimulating hobby actually slow decline?
Most of the fun of ham radio is learning - it never stops, there's always something else to discover. I'd guess that it's the learning, searching, and connections you make that provide the benefits. Unless being in nature is a requirement, but then you have plenty of retirees that go RVing - do they experience the same benefits? I doubt that's as intellectually stimulating as birding or radio. Maybe.
- bob778
If you haven’t seen it, Listers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-wAqplQAo) provides a great glimpse into what competitive birdwatching looks like. It’s nothing like casual birdwatching.
- ourmandave
Does it count if I have a bird feeder with a movement detection camera that saves to the cloud 100's of terrible blurry images I look at once a never?