Research has suggested that coloring can have beneficial results for adults suffering from stress, reports the Huffington Post. Returning to the childhood pastime has gained popularity both in Europe and North America to aid wellness and relaxation.

According to the study, coloring relieves stress by helping individuals to aim their focus on an activity that allows them take their mind off their concerns or worries. Coloring also subconsciously reminds people of their childhood, typically a low-stress period of most people’s lives, which leads to comfort.

“The action involves both logic, by which we color forms, and creativity, when mixing and matching colors. This incorporates the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in vision and fine motor skills,” psychologist Gloria Martínez Ayala explains. “The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress.”

The phenomenon has encouraged an increasing number of publishers to cater to adults by launching coloring books outside of the typical ponies, princesses, and dinosaurs range. In France and the UK coloring books for adults have even become bestsellers.

The French publishing company Hachette introduced a very successful 20-volume series of books called Art-Thérapie. The UK illustrator Mel Simone Elliott launched a bestselling series called Color Me Good, featuring famous celebrities to color in. Not to be outdone, the American comedians Ryan Hunter and Taige Jensen released the appropriately-titled Coloring For Grown Ups.