Traffic Noise Can Slow Cognitive Development



The findings of working memory and attention tests were unaffected by the noise levels in the home, according to study that was published in PLoS Medicine.

Although it is a widespread problem in cities, the consequences of traffic noise on children's health are still unclear. The development of working memory and attention in young children is negatively impacted by traffic noise, according to new research conducted at 38 schools in Barcelona. The findings of this study were published in the journal PLoS Medicine. It was directed by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution funded by the "la Caixa" Foundation.

Researchers Maria Foraster and Jordi Sunyer oversaw the BREATHE initiative study, which included 2,680 children between the ages of 7 and 10. In order to assess the possible impacts of traffic noise on cognitive development, the researchers concentrated on attention and working memory, two abilities that develop swiftly throughout preadolescence and are essential for learning and academic achievement.

Barcelona schoolgirls testing their cognitive abilities. With thanks to the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)

Selectively paying to particular inputs and sustaining sustained focus on a single task are two processes that involve attention. We have the ability to swiftly store and process information in our thoughts thanks to the working memory system. When we must quickly and continuously process information that has been stored in working memory, we use what is known as complex working memory.

During the course of the study's fieldwork, which lasted a full year in 2012 and 2013, participants completed the cognitive tests four times. Both assessing working memory and attention, as well as monitoring their growth over time, were goals of these tests. The 38 participating schools' outside noise levels, playground noise levels, and classroom noise levels were all measured over the same time period.

The results of the year-long study showed that students who went to schools with increased traffic noise saw slower improvements in working memory, complex working memory, and attention. For instance, working memory development was 11.4 percent slower than usual and complex working memory development was 23.5 percent slower than average when external noise levels were raised by 5 dB. The same was true for attention capacity development, which grew at a rate that was 4.8% slower than usual after being exposed to an additional 5 dB of outside traffic noise.

Higher average noise levels and more noise variation were also linked to worse student performance across all assessments in the examination of outside noise at schools. More noise variation inside the classroom was also linked to poorer development on all cognitive tests over the course of the year. On the other hand, only the attention test was affected negatively by children's exposure to greater average classroom noise levels over the course of the year; the working memory tests were unaffected.
Maria Foraster, an ISGlobal researcher and the study's primary author, said, "This data implies that noise peaks inside the classroom may be more damaging to neurodevelopment than average decibel level." This is significant because, despite the fact that present regulations are only based on average decibel levels, it supports the idea that noise features may have a greater impact.

The final author of the paper and ISGlobal researcher Jordi Sunyer said, "Our study confirms the concept that infancy is a sensitive age during which external stimuli, like as noise, might impair the fast process of cognitive growth that takes place before puberty."

The researchers calculated the typical noise level at each participant's residence using the city of Barcelona's 2012 road traffic noise map. However, no correlation between home noise and cognitive development was found in this instance.

According to Maria Forester, "This may be because noise exposure at school is particularly harmful since it disrupts learning processes and susceptible windows of focus." The noise levels in the children's homes, however, were approximated using a noise map, which may be less reliable and, in any event, only represented outside noise, even if noise measurements were made at the schools. This might also have affected the outcomes.

The study adds to the corpus of research on how transportation affects kids' cognitive growth, which has already been seen in schools where there is airplane noise as well as schools where there is air pollution from traffic. To ascertain if these preliminary findings may be generalized to other cities and situations, the researchers emphasized the necessity for more study on road traffic noise in other populations.

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