Is Traffic Noise knocking out your Smartness?

Researchers have determined that “as little as 40 decibels of traffic noise – the typical level of background noise in an office environment or kitchen – has a detrimental effect on cognitive performance. Researchers at Chalmers’ Division of Applied Acoustics have conducted a laboratory study in which test subjects took concentration tests while being exposed to background traffic noise. . . . subjects had significantly poorer results on the performance test, and also felt that the task was more difficult to carry out, with traffic noise in the background. . . . background noise consisted of two audio sequences simulating trucks passing by at a distance of ten and fifty metres. Both sequences were normalized to the same total indoor level of 40 dB. . . . The audio sequence simulating the closer passages, where the sound changes significantly as the vehicle passes by, was usually the one that bothered the test subjects the most.”