Truth matters. Community matters. Your support makes both possible. LAist is one of the few places where news remains independent and free from political and corporate influence. Stand up for truth and for LAist. Make your year-end tax-deductible gift now.
Scientific Method: Can 'color sound' help us get things done?
A man listens to music from an iPod.
Listen
34:19
Color noise — noise that falls under a particular “hue” like white, brown, or pink noise — may be able to help people who are neurodivergent.
Keeping an ambient sound running in the background is pretty easy to do. A simple search on Spotify or YouTube can pull uphours-longvideos of sound.
Noise is typically designated as a color based on its distribution of frequencies. For example, for light to be classified as white,it needs to contain an equal distribution of all the colors in the spectrum. Similarly, white noise is an equal distribution of all the frequencies on the sound spectrum.
Then there’s brown noise, which has less to do with frequency distribution.It’s a low-frequency sound that gets its “brown” designation from the term“Brownian motion,” named after scientist Robert Brown. Brownian motion describes movement that changes randomly. Similarly, the sound in brown noise is low, but changes at random.
Pink noise isn’t as deep as brown noise — but it still emphasizes low frequencies.
We talk about how these sounds can affect the brain — and how they can be a tool for people with tinnitus or learning differences like ADHD.
Copyright 2024 WAMU 88.5
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
