How Does Noise Affect Mood?

According to scientific findings, noise affects mood, especially in recent years. First, it should be noted that excessive noise causes deafness, but this problem also brings with it a whole host of additional mental difficulties.

Second, noise itself is an aggressive stimulus to the brain. It sounds like bells, horns, sirens and similar sound signals, to which we respond with an increased state of readiness. The result is increased stress, which usually makes us feel bad, if not angry. Here’s one of the main ways noise affects mood.

On the other hand, the excess of sounds causes the brain to over-stimulate. This noise almost always occurs alongside our daily activities. It requires simultaneous attention on different fronts and negatively affects cognitive performance. This is another way that noise influences your mood.

How does noise affect mood?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the maximum noise level should not exceed 65 decibels. Exceeding this level has a negative impact on people’s social behavior. In particular, anxiety, irritability and a sense of helplessness increase.

Similarly, according to the available data, seven out of ten people confirm that noise prevents them from concentrating well. Noise affects attention span and can lead to memory and learning problems in the long run. In addition, the vast majority of people are simply in a bad mood when there is a lot of noise around them.

Another way noise affects our mood is when we rest. People need a quiet environment to fall asleep. If there are constant sounds in the environment, very often insomnia occurs or rest is interrupted. This has great psychological and physical consequences.

Acoustics in architecture

Acoustics in architecture is closely related to the way noise influences the mood. Science has shown that the acoustic properties of a house, building or any building structure directly affect people’s emotions. This is what acoustics does in architecture.

Experts in this field point out that the way a structure is built determines its acoustic properties, which in turn directly affect people’s mood. Acoustics in architecture is related to the design of each place and the materials from which it is built, in terms of acoustic properties.

One of the scholars in this field is Trevor Cox, an acoustic engineer at Salford University in Manchester, UK. He points out that buildings such as the Hagia Sophia in Turkey have such perfectly designed acoustics that you feel calm and spiritual upon entering the facility.

Research in this respect revealed the reason for this state of affairs. It is just a brief listening to a sound with a frequency of 110 Hz. This type of sound reduces activity in the speech center and transfers activity to areas of the brain related to abstraction and creativity.

Music influences the mood as much as noise

The influence of sounds is so important that, in fact, there is already a whole field of science dedicated to music-based learning and therapy. It is also worth mentioning that research by the universities of Bari (Italy) and Helsinki (Finland) has shown that music changes the biochemistry of emotions.

In contrast, the study, published in the journal Nature, indicates that changes in dopamine receptors were observed following the application of a musical stimulus. This study is the first approach to develop non-pharmacological treatments for mood disorders.

Even advanced music treatments are already carried out in people with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. And it must be admitted that they give good results. Therefore, if music has such a powerful impact, it is clear that noise also influences the mood, albeit in the opposite direction.

Prevention and recommendations

Big cities have particular problems with noise levels, which are also a form of pollution. Ideally, then, each of us should commit to reducing the noise level in our daily life.

Voluntary action, such as not using the horn, if not necessary would be very helpful. In addition, avoid loud music or refrain from speaking in a very loud tone.

It is also important to use hearing protection when someone is in an environment with high noise levels that cannot be controlled. Similarly, it is worth looking for a space in which there is blissful silence on a regular basis.