Noisy Environments: the Influence on Basic Cognitive Processes

Abstract

The attention processes in people is affected by background noise produced by many different sources. Beta (13-30Hz) and Theta (4-7 Hz) waves are directly related to attention and memory processes. Volunteers were asked to perform an attention test with and without background noise and their cerebral activity was recorded through electroencephalography (EEG). Results shows significant decreases in both beta and theta frequency bands (beta 13-30 Hz and theta 4-7 Hz) under background noise exposure. The attentional improvement is related to increases of the beta and theta waves, and we have observed that those decreases are directly related to a lack of attention caused by the exposure to background noise.