Stress Recovery during Exposure to Nature Sound and Environmental Noise
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. Experimental Design
2.3. Stressor
2.4. Experimental Sounds
- Nature sound. A mixture of sounds from a fountain and tweeting birds. The average sound pressure level was set to 50 dB (LAeq,4min).
- High noise. Road traffic noise recorded close to a densely trafficked road. The average sound pressure level was set to 80 dB (LAeq,4min).
- Low noise. The same noise as (2), but set to a lower average sound pressure level, 50 dB (LAeq,4min).
- Ambient noise. A recording from a quiet backyard, with a constant low level ambient noise, mainly caused by ventilation systems of the buildings surrounding the yard. The average sound pressure level was set to 40 dB (LAeq,4min).
2.5. Physiological Measures
2.6. Procedure
2.7. Equipment
3. Results
3.1. Perceptual Assessment of Experimental Sounds
3.2. Physiological Measures
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Abbreviations:
HF HRV | High frequency heart rate variability |
SCL | Skin conductance level |
Acknowledgments
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Period | Sound | Statistic (N = 40) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | Median | Max | Min | SD | ||
Skin conductance level (SCL), μS | ||||||
Baseline | Silence | 0.55 | 0.53 | 2.01 | 0.09 | 0.39 |
Recovery | Nature | 0.82 | 0.84 | 1.84 | 0.25 | 0.36 |
High Noise | 0.87 | 0.90 | 1.49 | 0.25 | 0.35 | |
Low noise | 0.84 | 0.86 | 1.69 | 0.17 | 0.39 | |
Ambient | 0.85 | 0.84 | 1.80 | 0.28 | 0.38 | |
High frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV), ms2/Hz | ||||||
Baseline | Silence | 0.60 | 0.55 | 1.08 | 0.29 | 0.21 |
Recovery | Nature | 0.59 | 0.58 | 0.91 | 0.27 | 0.18 |
High Noise | 0.60 | 0.57 | 1.01 | 0.31 | 0.20 | |
Low noise | 0.60 | 0.53 | 1.07 | 0.25 | 0.21 | |
Ambient | 0.61 | 0.57 | 1.04 | 0.32 | 0.19 |
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Alvarsson, J.J.; Wiens, S.; Nilsson, M.E. Stress Recovery during Exposure to Nature Sound and Environmental Noise. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7, 1036-1046. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7031036
Alvarsson JJ, Wiens S, Nilsson ME. Stress Recovery during Exposure to Nature Sound and Environmental Noise. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2010; 7(3):1036-1046. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7031036
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlvarsson, Jesper J., Stefan Wiens, and Mats E. Nilsson. 2010. "Stress Recovery during Exposure to Nature Sound and Environmental Noise" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 7, no. 3: 1036-1046. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7031036
APA StyleAlvarsson, J. J., Wiens, S., & Nilsson, M. E. (2010). Stress Recovery during Exposure to Nature Sound and Environmental Noise. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 7(3), 1036-1046. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7031036