Silence proves to be natural healer
True absence of sound is rarely experienced, which may be a shame because it turns out silence spurs changes in our bodies and brains that can make us healthier and happier.
It is already known that too much noise isn’t good for us – noise pollution has been linked to increased blood pressure, sleep loss and heart disease.
As scientists delved deeper into those issues, they discovered just how helpful it is to be without noise.
In 2013, a study at Duke University in the United States found our brains may actually grow when surrounded by nothingness.
Regenerative biologist Imke Kirste had been trying to work out which type of sound might spark the creation of new brain cells in a group of mice she was studying. She used silence as her control.
It emerged that the two hours of noiselessness she provided each day to the mice caused new cell creation in the hippocampus, which is the main part of the brain associated with memory, emotion and learning.
Kirste concluded that the silence may have been such an unusual departure from the norm that it heightened the mice’s alertness; the brain essentially flexed its muscles to fill the void left by the absence of sound, and in doing so, it grew.
Silence can also have a healing effect.
In 2006, a study in the journal Heart showed that while noise can stress us by raising our levels of cortisol and adrenaline, silence can relieve tension in as little as two minutes.
A quiet environment has also been found to relax us more than listening to ‘‘relaxing’’ music, as measured by a lowering of blood pressure and increased blood flow to the brain.
Periods of silence throughout the day keep on giving, too, by enhancing sleep and lessening insomnia.
Importantly, the brain doesn’t become inactive during the quiet times. Rather it enters a default state characterised by the constant internalising and evaluating of information.
Joseph Moran, a researcher at Harvard University’s Center for Brain Science, says this ‘‘default mode’’ is when the brain gains the freedom to discover its place in a person’s internal and external world. In other words, it helps you think about deep concepts in an imaginative way.
American novelist Herman Melville understood this more than a century earlier when he wrote: ‘‘All profound things and emotions of things are preceded and attended by silence.’’
Lowering our sensory input so we can relax, heal and be stimulated is certainly worthwhile. However, in a world of distractions and with endless digital entertainment at our fingertips, getting quiet time isn’t always easy.
The New York Times recently described how a ‘‘silent breakfast’’ could be a good way to find time and ease stress associated with the pandemic.
Whatever one’s motivation, it seems silence is more golden than originally thought.