The solution to brain fatigue could be a walk in the park, according to new Scottish research.

Scientists at Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University sent 12 student volunteers for a daunder through different parts of Edinburgh, using newly developed technology to map their brain waves while they walked.

The volunteers had a portable EEG – which records electrical activity in the scalp – hidden under their hats, connected to a laptop in their backpacks. Each was told to go at their own pace during a one-and-a-half-mile walk, while the laptop recorded emotional responses to three different areas of the city. The walkers strolled first through an older, historic district with light traffic; then through a half-mile of green space; then through a more urban district with heavy traffic.

The results showed attention and frustration levels rose in the two man-made settings, while brain activity during their time in the natural, green space was "more meditative".

Professor Jenny Roe, from Heriot Watt University, said: "Natural environments still engage our brains, but the attention they demand is effortless. "