The calming effect of water on both BP and heart rate was transient because the subjects’ gaze kept shiting to objects beyond water
Researchers have reported that heart rate and blood pressure show transient decreases when a person stares at a water body. In an article published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, the researchers connected the calming effect of water the evolutionary leap and natural selection advantage that the detection of drinking water meant for the human race.
Over two studies, participants were asked to look at three things while the parameters were being measured. These were – a swimming pool with white fiberglass walls, which, combined with chemicals in the pool, made the surface of the water shimmer with a pale blue-green hue, a nearby parking lot and a location on road (Russell Boulevard) with traffic on it.
“After visually fixating the water in the swimming pool for 1 min 40 s, the S/D (systolic/diastolic) ratio for blood pressure was reliably lower compared with focusing on a tree in the parking lot and a small distant sign on Russell Blvd. Heart rate was also reliably lower while viewing water than after viewing the sign on Russell Blvd. Thus, the results of our study provide full support to our hypothesis that viewing water can decrease blood pressure compared with viewing selected urban-habitat features without water. For heart rate, however, our hypothesis received only partial support due to the lack of a reliable difference between viewing water and the tree in the parking lot,” the researchers reported.
The effect however did not last very long. The researchers explained this with the observation that subjects’ gaze often moved beyond the water to other objects. The studies were carried out by the University of California.