Soundscapes and Brains
Effects on cognitive ability and mood
Effects on cognitive ability and mood
Previous findings extended
Woo and colleagues studied the cognitive implications of nighttime scenting; it is possible that their findings are useful in other contexts. The investigators report that “Male and female older adults . . . age 60–85, were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to an Olfactory Enriched or Control group. Individuals in the enriched group were exposed to 7 different odorants a week, one per night, for 2 h, using an odorant diffuser. Individuals in the control group had the same experience with de minimis amounts of odorant.
Success factors identified
Cabiro and colleagues investigated the psychological implications of living in an urban area. They found “no association between urbanicity [living in an urban area or not doing so] and multitasking abilities. However, additional analyses revealed that other variables related to the engagement with their physical environment, such as time spent outdoors, and time spent in nature were associated with multitasking abilities. This goes in line with the previous research showing the restorative effects that short-term exposure to nature can have on cognition. . . .
Researchers have determined that even relatively low volume traffic noise can degrade our cognitive performance. Investigators learned that “as little as 40 decibels of traffic noise – the typical level of background noise in an office environment or kitchen – has a detrimental effect on cognitive performance. Researchers at Chalmers’ Division of Applied Acoustics have conducted a laboratory study in which test subjects took concentration tests while being exposed to background traffic noise. . . .
Anyone doing workplace research will be interested in a study done by Roh, Hasan, Esomonu, Hendricks, Benden, and Aggarwal, published in PLoS ONE. The team learned that “employees really are less active and more prone to mistakes on afternoons and Fridays, with Friday afternoon representing the lowest point of worker productivity. . . . The researchers looked at the computer usage metrics of 789 in-office employees at a large energy company in Texas over a two-year [pre-pandemic] period.”
Landscapes affect brain development
Brightening up young minds
Tang and teammates set out to learn more about using natural elements in workplaces.