Effects of Natural Sounds on Attention Restoration Outdoors (NEO)

Nanyang Technological University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Cognitive Fatigue; Perceived Restoration; Working Memory; Mental Fatigue; Heart Rate Variability; Positive and Negative Affect; Inhibition, Psychological; Behavioral Performance

Treatments: Other: No Masking Sounds; Other: Masking Sounds

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05679882

COT-V4-2020-1-S004

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to examine whether listening to natural sounds in a noisy outdoor environment compared to no natural sounds influences behavioural, cognitive, affective, and physiological markers.

Full description

The investigators hypothesize that listening to natural sounds has restorative effects on attention by supporting greater use of involuntary attention. This generates the prediction that exposure to natural sounds in the context of a noisy outdoor environment will have greater restorative effects on attention (i.e., physiological, affective, cognitive, and behavioural) as compared to the control group (exposed to environmental noise only). Individual differences (i.e., age, gender, caffeine and food intake, body mass index, skin temperature, noise sensitivity, sleep quality, baseline physiology and behavioural performance) will be examined and accounted for. Environmental factors (i.e., outdoor humidity, temperature, and noise) will also be accounted for.

Enrollment: 60 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Singapore-based
• Non-clinical
• 18-35years

Exclusion criteria

• Individuals with hearing difficulties or failing to meet the minimal threshold for normal hearing
• Individuals with a history of ear, developmental, neurological, or psychiatric disorder

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Outdoor Environment

Active Comparator group

Description:

Exposure to outdoor environmental noise

Treatment:

Other: No Masking Sounds

Outdoor Environment with Machine-Learning Selected Masking Sounds

Experimental group

Description:

Exposure to outdoor environmental noise and masking sounds

Treatment:

Other: Masking Sounds