What our bodies tell us about noise

Williams, DAH

doi:10.3389/frym.2022.689100

What our bodies tell us about noise

Williams, DAH

Authors

Mr Duncan Williams D.A.H.Williams@salford.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer

Abstract

Noise is defined as unwanted sound. Not only is noise unwanted, it is expensive and bad for human health. But what sounds like noise to one person might be a happy sound for someone else, so how do we study noise? This article explains how we try to understand and measure noise. We run experiments in a laboratory to measure how noises in the environment affect listeners’ thinking, stress levels, and health. We measure the listeners’ brain activity, how much they sweat, and their heartbeat changes in response to noises like car engines, train squeals, and airplanes taking off. We match up the brain activity we measure with what people tell us about their responses to noisy sounds. This work will help us to make the world sound better for everyone—the more we understand how we hear, and design better places and spaces to improve our experiences with sound.

Citation

Williams, D. (2022). What our bodies tell us about noise. Frontiers for Young Minds, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2022.689100

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jul 22, 2022
Online Publication Date	Aug 16, 2022
Publication Date	Aug 16, 2022
Deposit Date	Sep 9, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Sep 9, 2022
Journal	Frontiers for Young Minds
Print ISSN	2296-6846
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Volume	10
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2022.689100
Publisher URL	http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2014.05.003