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Cognitive performance, creativity and stress levels of neurotypical young adults under different white noise levels

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Awada, Mohamad, Becerik-Gerber, Burcin, Lucas, Gale, Roll, Shawn·2022·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/s41598-022-18862-wPMC PMC9418159
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Abstract

Noise is often considered a distractor; however recent studies suggest that sub-attentive individuals or individuals diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can benefit from white noise to enhance their cognitive performance. Research regarding the effect of white noise on neurotypical adults presents mixed results, thus the implications of white noise on the neurotypical population remain unclear. Thus, this study investigates the effect of 2 white noise conditions, white noise level at 45 dB and white noise level at 65 dB, on the cognitive performance, creativity, and stress levels of neurotypical young adults in a private office space. These conditions are compared to a baseline condition where participants are exposed to the office ambient noise. Our findings showed that the white noise level at 45 dB resulted in better cognitive performance in terms of sustained attention, accuracy, and speed of performance as well as enhanced creativity and lower stress levels. On the other hand, the 65 dB white noise condition led to improved working memory but higher stress levels, which leads to the conclusion that different tasks might require different noise levels for optimal performance. These results lay the foundation for the integration of white noise into office workspaces as a tool to enhance office workers’ performance.

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  • Across HCI studies, there is a tendency to design systems that address perceived neurodivergent behaviours from an external viewpoint without adequately considering internal struggles.

    “Across a number of studies [9, 29, 30, 39, 54, 55, 64, 74, 81, 90, 93], there is a noticeable tendency to design systems that address perceived neurodivergent behaviours, often from an external viewpoint, without adequately considering the internal struggles experienced by neurodivergent individuals.”

    From Burnout by Design: How Digital Systems Overburden Neurodivergent Students in Higher Education (2025) · cites this paper as [9]

    The Introduction discusses white noise and cognitive performance, including prior studies involving children with ADHD; the Discussion describes this paper’s study of neurotypical adults. Searches for HCI system design, external perspectives, and neurodivergent individuals’ internal struggles found no passage addressing the claimed tendency. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Awada, M., Becerik-Gerber, B., Lucas, G., & Roll, S.
Affiliations
University of Southern California (US)
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2022-08-26
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
14566-14566
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41598-022-18862-w
PMC
PMC9418159
OpenAlex
W4293109481
Cited by
53
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 1
FWCI
12.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (1763134)
  • Army Research Office (W911NF-20-2-0053)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › Noise Effects and Management
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Hearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, Genetics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Vehicle Noise and Vibration Control
Keywords
white noise, noise level, cognitive performance, creativity, stress, sustained attention, working memory, office workspaces, task performance
MeSH terms
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Cognition, Humans, Memory, Short-Term, Noise, Young Adult

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