By Rémy Gaillet 

Publié le 16 juin 2026

Every day, we are surrounded by sound: traffic, work, conversations, music, machines… Contrary to vision, our ears have no break. Even during sleep, the brain continues to process sound, which can lead to stress responses without our awareness. However, most people consider noise as a simple background element of life. 

Nevertheless, scientific research shows that sound has a direct impact on our body and mind. According to Health Canada, even unconscious exposure to sound can affect heart rate, blood pressure, and brain activity. This means that our environment constantly influences us, even when we don’t notice it. 

We underestimate how much sound affects our health and emotions, although it constantly acts on our brain without our awareness. For this reason, it is essential to better understand and actively control our sound environment. 

The effects of the sound are measurable; National Geographic explains that listening to natural sounds, such as birds singing, can significantly reduce anxiety and negative emotions in just a few minutes. 

Furthermore, in the TED Talk “The 4 ways sound affects us,” Julian Treasure, renowned international speaker, author and sound expert, demonstrates that sound affects us physiologically, psychologically, cognitively, and behaviorally. For example, unpleasant noise can increase cortisol levels, while pleasant sounds can improve mood and concentration. These observations show that sound is not neutral: it constantly shapes our internal state, whether we realize it or not. 

To explore this analysis further, and for a variety of research purposes, I decided to interview the AI Claude (Anthropic, 2026), using a structured prompt to simulate an expert in auditory neuroscience and environmental psychology. 

During the interview, the AI explained that “The World Health Organization has actually identified environmental noise as a significant public health concern, linking it to cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment in children. The damage is cumulative and largely invisible, which makes it particularly insidious.”  

This invisible influence of sound can also be observed in everyday life if we pay attention to it. In my student job in a kitchen, I am constantly exposed to a loud sound environment: ventilation systems, cooking equipment, and continuous background noise. At the end of the day, I feel not only physically tired but also mentally fatigued. 

At first, I did not question this feeling. However, after learning about the effects of sound, I began to understand that this fatigue might be linked to constant auditory stimulation. The brain is always filtering and processing sounds: this is called the Cocktail Party Effect, and it requires energy and can create stress over time. 

What feels like simple tiredness may actually be the result of an environment that constantly activates our brain. 

To conclude, sound is not just a passive element of our environment. It continuously affects our brain, our emotions, and our health, often without our awareness. Scientific research, expert insights, and personal experience given the same reality: noise is an invisible but powerful influence. 

We protect what we can see, but we ignore what we hear. It is time to become aware of our sound environment and take control of it, because what we hear affects us more than we think.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“The 4 ways sound affects us” (2009) https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_the_4_ways_sound_affects_us

Agence Européenne pour l'Environnement : « La pollution sonore : un problème pour la santé humaine »
https://www.eea.europa.eu/fr/articles/la-pollution-sonore-un-probleme

UNRIC : "La pollution sonore : une menace pour la santé"  https://unric.org/fr/la-pollution-sonore-une-menace-pour-la-sante-des-humains-et-des-animaux/

Gouvernement du Canada - Santé Canada : "Bruit et son : effets sur la santé mentale et le bien-être"  https://www.canada.ca/fr/sante-canada/services/bruit-votre-sante/effets-sante-mentale-bien-etre.html

National Geographic: "Listening to birds sing really does soothe your brain"  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/health/article/birds-sing-brain-mental-health

Possible health effects of noise-induced cortisol increase — PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12689472/ — This study explains that the auditory system remains active even during sleep and is directly connected to the brain’s stress response system. Exposure to noise can trigger the release of cortisol, the stress hormone, even without consciousness. This demonstrates that sound can have physiological effects on the body without any control.