Mystery Over the Bronx Expressway
Before the music began for my world premiere in Tucson last week, I was interviewed on stage.
I briefly spoke about one of my favorite subjects – how much sound effects our mind and body.
At intermission I was approached by several scientists from local universities who wanted to share their experiences and interest in this important topic. I was even invited to speak at a 2 day conference in March.
One told me a story I had not heard before. It’s quite something.
Back in the 70’s a scientist learned about an apartment building that was built Over the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York City. He found out many of the children living in the building had learning disabilities.
So he measured the range of frequencies the traffic was making. Then he took note of every child’s response in school.
Children living on the lower floors did very poorly in school. After the first few floors, things got better and better the higher the children lived. But he didn’t stop there. Remember, he measured the frequency range the traffic noise made.
What he found was truly astounding.
First, let me explain the noise levels are not loud enough to cause damage - all the children had normal hearing. What the study showed was a strong link between the floor level and reading development. The kids’ coping skills were also affected.
Here’s why. The children on the lower floors where tuning out words and phrases in a certain frequency range. They just ignored those words. Yes, the frequency of the traffic had robbed those children of the ability to ‘hear’ some of what their teachers were saying. If any word or phrase was spoken within the range of that traffic noise – the child automatically Tuned It Out.
It’s not that they literally couldn’t ‘hear’ the words. Their brain had created a protection against the damaging low frequency rumble underneath their homes by tuning it out. Once you tune out a frequency, your brain won’t tune it in, even if the origin of the sound has changed. In this case, the other origin was the human voice.
So those children and their teachers had a big dilemma.
Because this loss of language skill also leads to loss of reading skill. Which explains the children’s low reading scores.
How amazing and pertinent this study still is to this day. Imagine how much we all tune out because of noise over-stimulation.
Low frequency noise is dangerous to your mental health. If you’re exposed to it frequently, make sure you have quiet time. Balance out low frequencies with high frequency music. Listen to any of the five CDs in The Secret Power of Words and Music and experience what the Secret really is: high frequency sound.
If you want to relax and feel good, then good sounds are unlike anything else to get you to that happy place. Get your five CDs here now.
For a free package that includes ALL 5 Secret Power CDs and more, join the Sounds of Gold Inner Circle as an annual member here.
Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French
P.S. If you’re in the Washington D.C. area today, then come to the Library of Congress tonight. I’ll be speaking at a pre-concert presentation at 6:15pm. At the 8pm concert you can hear the East Coast premiere of my 3rd String Quartet "Luminescence" performed by the Artis Quartet from Vienna, Austria. For all of you who can’t join me tonight, you won’t miss out. The music will be included with the Sounds of Gold Inner CD and Newsletter. Take an easy one month Test Drive today.
I briefly spoke about one of my favorite subjects – how much sound effects our mind and body.
At intermission I was approached by several scientists from local universities who wanted to share their experiences and interest in this important topic. I was even invited to speak at a 2 day conference in March.
One told me a story I had not heard before. It’s quite something.
Back in the 70’s a scientist learned about an apartment building that was built Over the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York City. He found out many of the children living in the building had learning disabilities.
So he measured the range of frequencies the traffic was making. Then he took note of every child’s response in school.
Children living on the lower floors did very poorly in school. After the first few floors, things got better and better the higher the children lived. But he didn’t stop there. Remember, he measured the frequency range the traffic noise made.
What he found was truly astounding.
First, let me explain the noise levels are not loud enough to cause damage - all the children had normal hearing. What the study showed was a strong link between the floor level and reading development. The kids’ coping skills were also affected.
Here’s why. The children on the lower floors where tuning out words and phrases in a certain frequency range. They just ignored those words. Yes, the frequency of the traffic had robbed those children of the ability to ‘hear’ some of what their teachers were saying. If any word or phrase was spoken within the range of that traffic noise – the child automatically Tuned It Out.
It’s not that they literally couldn’t ‘hear’ the words. Their brain had created a protection against the damaging low frequency rumble underneath their homes by tuning it out. Once you tune out a frequency, your brain won’t tune it in, even if the origin of the sound has changed. In this case, the other origin was the human voice.
So those children and their teachers had a big dilemma.
Because this loss of language skill also leads to loss of reading skill. Which explains the children’s low reading scores.
How amazing and pertinent this study still is to this day. Imagine how much we all tune out because of noise over-stimulation.
Low frequency noise is dangerous to your mental health. If you’re exposed to it frequently, make sure you have quiet time. Balance out low frequencies with high frequency music. Listen to any of the five CDs in The Secret Power of Words and Music and experience what the Secret really is: high frequency sound.
If you want to relax and feel good, then good sounds are unlike anything else to get you to that happy place. Get your five CDs here now.
For a free package that includes ALL 5 Secret Power CDs and more, join the Sounds of Gold Inner Circle as an annual member here.
Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French
P.S. If you’re in the Washington D.C. area today, then come to the Library of Congress tonight. I’ll be speaking at a pre-concert presentation at 6:15pm. At the 8pm concert you can hear the East Coast premiere of my 3rd String Quartet "Luminescence" performed by the Artis Quartet from Vienna, Austria. For all of you who can’t join me tonight, you won’t miss out. The music will be included with the Sounds of Gold Inner CD and Newsletter. Take an easy one month Test Drive today.
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home