A new study suggests that exercise can alter a person’s perception of the world, at the same time decrease anxiety to a great extent. This is because they perceive their environment to be less threatening.
The study asked students to watch an animation of a figure that could be perceived as moving towards or away from them, and the result showed that those who exercised saw the figure to be less threatening. The results also showed that exercising can reduce the anxiety by reinforcing the perception of a positive environment.
The study researcher Adam Heenan, PhD candidate in clinical psychology at Queen’s University in Canada said, "Exercising and doing relaxation techniques are already known to be good for anxiety, but this shows there is another potential benefit, because if you're perceiving the world as less threatening, that's less stuff you have to deal with.”
The study examined 66 students who stood still, walked or jogged on a treadmill and then later watched the animation of this human figure.
The result was that those students who walked or jogged were found more likely to say the figure was walking away from them, and then who stood still saw the figure coming towards them. Therefore, this led to the opinion that the students who exercised felt less threatened.
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News Source: financialexpress.com
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