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. 2010 Mar;7(3):1036-46.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph7031036. Epub 2010 Mar 11.

Stress recovery during exposure to nature sound and environmental noise

Jesper J Alvarsson  1 , Stefan Wiens, Mats E Nilsson
Affiliations

Stress recovery during exposure to nature sound and environmental noise

Jesper J Alvarsson et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2010 Mar.

Abstract

Research suggests that visual impressions of natural compared with urban environments facilitate recovery after psychological stress. To test whether auditory stimulation has similar effects, 40 subjects were exposed to sounds from nature or noisy environments after a stressful mental arithmetic task. Skin conductance level (SCL) was used to index sympathetic activation, and high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV) was used to index parasympathetic activation. Although HF HRV showed no effects, SCL recovery tended to be faster during natural sound than noisy environments. These results suggest that nature sounds facilitate recovery from sympathetic activation after a psychological stressor.

Keywords: environmental noise; heart rate variability; nature sounds; skin conductance level; soundscape; stress recovery.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Experimental design with experiment duration on x-axis and expected stress level on y-axis (S = stress test; R = recovery period for each experimental sound condition).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Mean values of perceptual attributes for the nature sound and the high, low and ambient noises. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Baseline corrected skin conductance level (SCL) as a function of time, shown separately for recovery during exposure to nature, high noise, low noise and ambient sound.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Skin conductance level (SCL) as a function of time, shown separately for the four sounds. Curves were fitted to the group data. Constants of Equation 1 and half life value (x) are indicated in each diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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