Media release

From: Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

Health benefits of natural sounds

A study examines how natural sounds benefit human health. Research suggests that natural sounds positively influence human health. To determine whether conserving natural soundscapes could bolster public health, Rachel Buxton, Amber Pearson, and colleagues conducted a literature review and meta-analysis of 18 publications examining the health benefits of natural sounds.

Overall, exposure to natural sounds decreased stress and improved health factors, such as blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol levels, and perceived pain. Compared with a mix of natural sounds, water sounds had the greatest positive outcomes on human health, whereas bird sounds had the greatest influence on relieving stress. The authors also examined the distribution of anthropogenic sounds in relation to natural sounds at 221 sites in 68 US national parks. Among all sites, water sounds were audible 22.8% of the time, and bird sounds were audible 42.1% of the time.

Compared with parks that received fewer annual visitors, those with more visitors exhibited similar levels of natural sounds but greater levels of anthropogenic sounds. Most sites with low audibility of anthropogenic sounds and high audibility of biological or geophysical sounds were far from urban areas and located in Alaska, Hawaii, or the Pacific Northwest.

The findings suggest that preserving national parks and their natural soundscapes benefits both ecosystem conservation and public health, according to the authors.