Scientists investigated the effect of noise pollution (traffic noise) versus natural sounds (birdsongs) on a group of healthy participants. They concluded that natural sounds led to significant improvements in “mood, state paranoia, and cognitive performance,” according to a report published by the science journal Nature.
The participants were exposed to randomized conditions in the online experiment. Afterwards, the participants were instructed to fill out depression, anxiety, and paranoia questionnaires.
Traffic noise significantly increased depression. After exposure to birdsongs, depression exclusively decreased.
The scientific report suggests that “listening to birdsongs regardless of diversity improves anxiety, while traffic noise, also regardless of diversity, is related to higher depressiveness.”
According to the report, the results may prove beneficial for further testing in different environments, for example, psychiatric wards.
