An increase of 5 decibels in road noise resulted in an 11.4% slower development of children’s working memory.
Children attending schools Primary Education with more noise due to road traffic appear slower cognitive development, as shown by a new Spanish scientific study. In contrast, noise levels in the home do not seem to have the same negative effect on children’s memory and attention performance.
His researchers Institute of World Health (ISGlobal) Barcelona, headed by Maria Forrester, who published the publication in the medical journal PLoS Medicine, analyzed data on 2,680 children aged seven to ten from 38 Spanish schools.
The noise from the movement of vehicles is a common problem in cities around the world, the impact of which on children’s health has not been adequately understood by scientists. New research concludes that noise has a detrimental effect on working memory and the ability of elementary school students to pay attention, two vital functions that allow a child to hold information in their mind and focus selectively on it.
The participating students underwent four cognitive tests during the study, to evaluate the evolution of their memory and attention over time. At the same time, noise levels were measured both in the schoolyard and in the classrooms.
The conclusion was that the louder the noise, the slower the students’ cognitive development over time. Indicatively, a 5 decibel increase in road noise resulted in an 11.4% slower development of working memory (a decrease of 23.5% in terms of complex working memory), as well as a decrease of 4.8% in the ability to pay attention, compared to the average.
In general, higher noise levels were associated with poorer students’ performance on cognitive tests, especially in terms of attention span, compared to their classmates who went to quieter schools.
“Our study supports the hypothesis that childhood is a vulnerable period, during which external stimuli, such as noise, can affect the rapid progression of cognitive development that occurs before adolescence.” said o researcher Jordi Sounier.
It is noteworthy that the researchers also calculated the average noise levels to which the students were exposed at their place of residence. In this case, and contrary to what happens at school, no correlation was observed between street noise and children’s cognitive development.
“This may be because exposure to school noise is more harmful, as it has a greater impact on learning and attention processes. “On the other hand, while noise measurements were made in schools, the noise levels in the children’s homes were based on a noise map that is probably less accurate and only concerns the noise outside the homes, which probably influenced the findings.”Forrester reported.
The researchers said that the issue of noise in schools should be further studied and its possible effects should be taken more seriously.
