The restorative potential of soundscapes: A physiological investigation

• Acoustic environments can impact people both psychologically and physiologically.
• How soundscapes impact physiology has yet to be sufficiently determined.
• We report that soundscapes can impact physiological recovery from stressful events.
• Furthermore, even at rest soundscapes can influence physiological processes.
• However, subjective responses to soundscapes need to be accounted for.

Acoustic environments can have negative or positive effects on human health and wellbeing. Two studies investigating the impact of soundscapes on physiological measures obtained after a stressor or a period of rest, are reported. Subjective appraisals of the soundscapes were also considered when examining the relationship between soundscape and physiological response. Following a stress task, larger decreases in heart rate were associated with the least eventful, soundscapes. When at rest, sounds perceived as pleasant produced lower skin conductance levels compared to sounds perceived as unpleasant. Together these findings suggest that autonomic function during stress recovery and at rest can be influenced by subjective response to the acoustic environment. Further, the co-variance between subjective estimates of, and physiological response to, soundscapes suggests there is some worth in developing self-report soundscape surveys as a tool to use when considering soundscapes accessible to the public.