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Andy’s Quick Hits (228): High Traffic Noise at School, Slower Cognitive Development
Who would have thought that traffic noise could impact cognitive development of kids? Well according to this recent piece of research it can.
Are you sure?
Well, these researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health designed a pretty comprehensive study. They measure the cognitive ability of 2’680 children over 12 months on attention and working memory. They were tested four times over this 12-month period.
They attended 38 different schools and noise was measured in front of the school, in the playground, and in the classrooms.
What were the results?
The results were pretty clear. Those attending schools with higher noise levels had slower cognitive development. They were able to quantify this:
- A 5 dB increase in outdoor noise levels resulted in working memory development that was 11.4% slower than average
- A 5 dB increase in outdoor noise levels resulted in complex working memory development that was 23.5% slower than average. Similarly,
- A 5 dB increase in outdoor noise levels resulted in attention capacity development that was 4.8% slower than average.
