Boston Globe: There’s a scientific reason leaf peeping feels so good

By Katie O'Hare, Senior Director of Marketing
Oct 20, 2026

Kymberlee O’Brien, MEd, PhD, assistant professor in the Organizational and Leadership Psychology department and founder of NeuraLight Consulting, is a psychphysiologist, who recently shared with the Boston Globe and WGBH why fall colors provide a positive boost for our minds.

How Learning Shapes Preference

According to studies, color preferences may be shaped by both experience and evolution, with people tending to favor autumn’s warm reds and golds because they associate them with the season’s “abundance”, comfort, and beauty. They may be more primed to favor these colors during the fall season because the brain expects to see them.

How Nature Restores Attention

Nature can promote relaxation by reducing rumination and self-focused thinking, while the awe and beauty of autumn landscapes help calm the mind and body. If you are looking to recharge, O’Brien recommends a hike among the trees vs a walk through the city.

How "Awe" Quiets the Self

“Finally, we see the evidence of time moving and its temporal nature. Color changes, leaves falling and dying signal that the season is time-limited, which tends to sharpen attention and savoring,” says O’Brien. Research suggests that autumn's beauty, impermanence, and sense of awe may help us slow down, pay attention, and appreciate the present moment.

The final takeaway from O’Brien: “The evidence suggests that being out in it [nature] does more than looking at it on a screen. So go. Take the long way. Pull over at the overlook with everyone else."

Read the full Globe Opinion piece published on October 20, 2026 and/or listen to the WGBH Curiosity Desk podcast featuring Dr. Kymberlee O’Brien.

Are you interested in neuroscience? Explore our Neuroscience of Leadership Psychology concentration in the Leadership Psychology PsyD program or our Neuropsychology concentration in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program in Massachusetts.