Learn about the effects of noise on children

Learn about the effects of noise on children

A new Spanish study has warned that noise pollution can affect children's memory. According to what was published by the British “Daily Mail”, researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health studied the cases of 2680 children aged 7 to 10 years, enrolled in 38 schools in Barcelona, ​​​​and discovered that children in schools with higher levels of traffic noise have slower cognitive development .

Cognitive tests and noise measurements

Jordi Sonner, lead author of the study, said: "The results support the study's hypothesis that childhood is a period of vulnerability during which external stimuli such as noise can influence the rapid process of cognitive development that occurs before adolescence."

To assess the potential impact of traffic noise on cognitive development, the researchers assessed the children's attention and working memory as the children completed cognitive tests four times over a 12-month period. Noise measurements during the same period were also collected from school playgrounds and classrooms.

Analysis of the results showed that the progression of working memory and attention was slower among students attending schools with higher levels of traffic noise.

For example, a 5-dB increase in external noise levels slowed average working memory by 11.5% and compound working memory by 23.5%, while attention abilities were 4.8% slower than average.

Noisy stadiums

In comparing indoor and outdoor noise, the researchers found that children in schools with noisy playgrounds performed worse on all tests, while noisy classrooms seemed to affect only the children's attention, not their working memory.
“This finding suggests that the noise peak in the classroom may be more disruptive to neurodevelopment than the average decibel level,” said lead researcher Dr. Maria Forrester.

No harm from house noises

Surprisingly, the results of the study did not find any link between residential noise and cognitive development. “Noise exposure at school is more harmful because it affects weak windows for concentration and learning processes,” Dr. Forrester said.

While the causal relationship between the effect of noise, noise pollution and cognitive slowdown in light of the study results is still unclear, the researchers hope that the study findings will lead to further studies on road traffic and its effect on children's cognitive development.