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> One possible future research issue: Is it walking per se or do other forms of mild physical activity have similar elevating effects?

I've always found that aimlessly driving around in a car improves my creativity (much the same as walking, if not more). Yet driving means you're sitting, and I wouldn't say driving involves much more physical activity than typing and moving a mouse.

Strange.

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Driving does the same for me.

I'm paraphrasing here, but I've seen a neuroscientist say that some people think better when their mind is slightly engaged. So driving around engages your mind just enough that you can go into a more flow-like state.

I've probably butchered this explanation, but go watch Lex Fridman's first interview with Andrew Huberman if you want to see him explain it properly.

Maybe driving similarly engaged your sense of navigating the external world?

(I have no personal experience of the effect you describe.)

I think it's more likely to relate to "mindless" activities than anything else. I experience something similar when driving a familiar route or when doing stationary monotonous activities such as washing dishes. But driving somewhere novel puts all my attention back to driving.

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