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signals that are fired directly <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> auditory cortex of <strong>the</strong> bra<strong>in</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> body responds immediately, even dur<strong>in</strong>g sleep. People who live <strong>in</strong> cities experience chronically<br />
elevated levels of stress hormones. <strong>The</strong>se hormones, especially cortisol, <strong>in</strong>crease one’s blood pressure,<br />
contribut<strong>in</strong>g to heart disease and cellular damage. Noise harms your body and boils your bra<strong>in</strong>. <strong>The</strong> word<br />
“noise” is derived from <strong>the</strong> Lat<strong>in</strong> word nausea.<br />
You don’t need that much quiet to change th<strong>in</strong>gs, or even have to be alone. But you do have to seek out a<br />
sooth<strong>in</strong>g environment, and you must do it often. Japanese researchers at Chiba University found that a daily<br />
fifteen-m<strong>in</strong>ute walk <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> woods caused significant decreases <strong>in</strong> cortisol, along with a modest drop <strong>in</strong> blood<br />
pressure and heart rate. Physiologists believe our bodies relax <strong>in</strong> hushed natural surround<strong>in</strong>gs because we<br />
evolved <strong>the</strong>re; our senses matured <strong>in</strong> grasslands and woods, and rema<strong>in</strong> calibrated to <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
A Duke regenerative biologist, Imke Kirste, work<strong>in</strong>g with mice, found that two hours of complete silence<br />
per day prompted cell development <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> hippocampus, <strong>the</strong> bra<strong>in</strong> region related to <strong>the</strong> formation of<br />
memory. Studies of humans <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States, Great Brita<strong>in</strong>, Holland, and Canada have shown that after<br />
pass<strong>in</strong>g time <strong>in</strong> quiet, rural sett<strong>in</strong>gs, subjects were calmer and more perceptive, less depressed and anxious,<br />
with improved cognition and a stronger memory. Time amid <strong>the</strong> silence of nature, <strong>in</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r words, makes<br />
you smarter.<br />
For Knight, <strong>the</strong> qu<strong>in</strong>tessence of serenity was a late-summer heat wave <strong>in</strong> midweek, when nearly every<br />
cab<strong>in</strong> was unoccupied. This happened maybe once a year. <strong>The</strong>n, deep <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> night, he’d leave his camp and<br />
walk until <strong>the</strong> trees abruptly ended and <strong>the</strong> waters of <strong>the</strong> pond swayed before him. He’d drop his clo<strong>the</strong>s and<br />
slip <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> water. <strong>The</strong> lake’s top few <strong>in</strong>ches, after cook<strong>in</strong>g all day <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> sun, would be nearly bath warm.<br />
“I’d stretch out <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> water,” he said, “and lie flat on my back, and look at <strong>the</strong> stars.”