Noise Can Help, Rather Than Hinder, People's Ability To Sense Things

Noise Can Help, Rather Than Hinder, People's Ability To Sense Things: "We usually think of noise as a bad thing — like the background sound of street traffic that makes it hard to hear a conversation or your favorite CD. Researchers know that such extraneous stimuli exist for other senses, too: Noise can affect your ability not only to hear, but also to see and feel.

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Mind & Brain

But it's not always a bad thing, it turns out. Researchers from the University of British Columbia recently showed that noise can at times help, rather than hinder, people's ability to sense things. Researcher Lawrence M. Ward said that 'although counterintuitive ... noise can actually help us to see, hear or feel weak signals that would otherwise be imperceptible.'

Researchers Cari Wells, Lawrence M. Ward, Romeo Chua, and J. Timothy Inglis presented their findings in the study, 'Touch Noise Increases Vibrotactile Sensitivity in Old and Young,' in the April 2005 issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the American Psychological Society."