The Harsh Reality of Background Noise

From the start of this year I have begun to question the ability my brain has to remember. For example, if someone asked me what I had for breakfast at the end of the day it may have taken me two to five minutes to remember. Often times I wondered what was wrong with me or what I had done to diminish the functionality of my brain. Earlier this week I had an assignment to choose and practice three challenges from the book Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi. One of the challenges I selected was challenge two which was to, 'keep devices out of range while in motion.' I originally chose this because I have an awful habit of picking up my phone to change the music and then the next thing I know I'm on my twitter newsfeed. The more I broke down my use I thought of not just my screen time but the amount of background noise I constantly depend on. My thoughts have more thoughts, and those thoughts also have thoughts inside of them, so I rely on background noise to keep my mind occupied so I don't give myself any unnecessary anxiety. A distraction is definitely understandable but this has became a serious habit for me. I can't even brush my teeth in silence, I have to have a podcast or a Youtube video captivating me constantly. 

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Due to this I included having quiet time as part of my challenge, on my way to the course the first five minutes involved my fighting my brain from wondering into un needed worries. Once I felt like I had settled in mentally my thoughts were clear and on my priorities. I went through my entire round of golf that day with no music or podcasts in the background. Afterwards I was breaking down my play with my father over the phone, I began to realize I remembered every little thing shot by shot. When I reflected on my day my memory was clear and I came to the realization that it was because I had no background noise all day. My mind wasn't constantly recalibrating itself between what I was listening to and where I was, because of this my mind was sharp and turning on all cylinders. The epiphany I had made me want to research the concept I had created and see what effect background noise has on our brains or more specifically our memory.

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An article I found published by the Scientific American broke down a lot of what happens chemically inside of our brain in effect with background noise, noise-induced stress, concentration, and memory. When we think of this theory from the outside it can come off as obvious, of course background noise can affect your concentration or memory, but the deeper I looked the more answers I seemed to find to questions I had about my mental health as well. To summarize what was said in this article, white noise or constant background noise rises our stress levels. This then decreases our amount of cortisol, cortisol helps the brain gather itself after a negative effect. Without this cortisol, the brain doesn't have the ability to remain calm, possibly sending someone with mental illnesses into 'fight or flight mode.' A shortness of cortisol also lowers short-term memory and learning. 

With this research I was able to conclude that the constant background noise has contributed to the continuous recalibrating of my my brain. I think the need to captivate my brain with noise so my anxious thoughts can be put off has only escalated them in certain ways, while at the same time effecting my short-term memory. In my case screen time wasn't the main problem but my addiction to fill quiet time to escape my own thoughts.