Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026
Using a Virtual Reality Walking Simulator to Investigate Pedestrian Behavior
Published on: June 9, 2020
Neurobehavioral effects of transportation noise in primary schoolchildren: a cross-sectional study
Elise van Kempen1, Irene van Kamp, Erik Lebret
1National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Environmental Health Research, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Elise.van.Kempen@rivm.nl
Insights
Children exposed to higher levels of aircraft and road traffic noise at school made more errors on complex cognitive tasks. Simple tasks were less affected by noise, indicating noise impacts more demanding cognitive functions.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Child Development
Background:
- Limited research exists on noise exposure and children's cognitive performance.
- Previous studies lacked source-specific exposure-effect relationships for noise impacts.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the effects of aircraft and road traffic noise on primary schoolchildren's cognitive performance.
- Examine noise impacts in both home and school environments.
Main Methods:
- 553 children (9-11 years) from 24 schools near Schiphol Amsterdam Airport participated.
- Cognitive performance assessed using the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES) and paper-and-pencil tests.
- Multilevel regression analyses controlled for demographic and school-related confounders.
Main Results:
- Higher school noise levels (road and aircraft) correlated with increased errors on difficult parts of the Switching Attention Test (SAT).
- Strong coherence observed between neurobehavioral and paper-and-pencil test results.
- Noise exposure significantly affected performance on more complex cognitive tasks.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive performance on complex tasks is more susceptible to noise pollution than simple tasks.
- Noise at school negatively impacts children's cognitive functioning, particularly on demanding tasks.
- Findings highlight the importance of managing noise environments for optimal child cognitive development.
Background:
Due to shortcomings in the design, no source-specific exposure-effect relations are as yet available describing the effects of noise on children's cognitive performance. This paper reports on a study investigating the effects of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure on the cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren in both the home and the school setting.
Methods:
Participants were 553 children (age 9-11 years) attending 24 primary schools around Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. Cognitive performance was measured by the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES), and a set of paper-and-pencil tests. Multilevel regression analyses were applied to estimate the association between noise exposure and cognitive performance, accounting for demographic and school related confounders.
Results:
Effects of school noise exposure were observed in the more difficult parts of the Switching Attention Test (SAT): children attending schools with higher road or aircraft noise levels made significantly more errors. The correlational pattern and factor structure of the data indicate that the coherence between the neurobehavioral tests and paper-and-pencil tests is high.
Conclusions:
Based on this study and previous scientific literature it can be concluded that performance on simple tasks is less susceptible to the effects of noise than performance on more complex tasks.
