Rain pattering on the window glass, sound of waves or sing about birds are some of the most relaxing sounds. They are good for be better and switch off. In this sense, listening to birdsong has therapeutic effect in people: improves your mood and mental health while the risk of the property is minimized paranoia Mr anxiety. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany came to this conclusion.
To reach this conclusion, scientists divided 295 volunteers into four groups randomly. some of them heard little traffic noise while others had to listen a lot of traffic noise. Another one of the groups won little birds are singing and the fourth birds sing a lot. Four groups listened to sounds for six minutes and had toand fill out the questionnaires about their levels of sadness, anxiety and paranoia before and after they were exposed to the sounds.
“Everyone has certain psychological dispositions. Healthy people can also experience temporary anxious thoughts or paranoid perceptions. Questionnaires allow us identify trends people without a diagnosis of depression, anxiety and paranoia and investigate the effect of bird sounds or traffic on these tendencies,” he said Emil Stobbepre-doctoral student and lead author of the study, which was done online.
It doesn’t matter which bird sings: what matters is that it sings
The results, which were published in the journal Scientific reportsthey showed that for the first time listen to the birds singeven for a few minutesIt reduces the level of anxiety and paranoia. However, birdsong had no positive effect on levels depression. Is it necessary to listen to a certain type of bird to feel better? No, the beneficial effects of chanting are keep regardless of the type of bird: canary, nightingale or blackbird work equally well.
On the other side, traffic noise it got worse depressive states. And what’s worse: the more different noises – horns, motorcycle acceleration, truck horns – the greater the negative impact. In parallel, the researchers also found that neither birdsong nor traffic noise affected the cognitive performance.
A trip to nature
Researchers believe that these effects can be explained by the fact that birdsong is an indicator, more or less subtle, untouched natural environment. Therefore, the sound of birds has the power to distract from stressors which might otherwise upset people.
The obtained results suggest that birdsong could be apply to patients who are at risk of mental disorders. According to Stobbe, something that would be very simple to do is to put a Audio CD bird. Although the really interesting thing would be go to the field and listen to them live: “If we were already able to demonstrate such effects in an online experiment that participants conducted on a computer, we can assume that they are even stronger outdoors in nature.”
There is too much noise in cities
The positive influence of birdsong on mood is already known, but according to the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to reveal an effect on mood.with paranoid states. “What is clear is that nature improves mental health and well-being“, concluded Simone Kühn, director of the research group.
Urban noise coming
The constant urbanization will make people more and more exposed to traffic noise. These results are also a sample of what awaits us in 2050, when it is estimated that 70% of the world’s population will live in cities: noise, noise and more noise. Therefore, poorer mental health.
So the researchers say it’s essential to understand environmental influences on our well-being and cognitionn. “Through our research, we also want to raise awareness of the interdependence between humans and nature,” Stobbe told Newsweek.
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