ADHD
Does White Noise Help ADHD Kids Learn Better Than Meds?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
White noise improved cognitive task performance in children with ADHD more effectively than stimulant medication, though combining both treatments yielded no extra benefits.
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Does White Noise Help ADHD Kids Learn Better Than Meds?
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twenty children in the ADHD group
First, the twenty children in the ADHD group were selected.
20 TDC children
Moreover, the 20 TDC children were also selected and matched with the ADHD group by age and gender.
Key findings
The ADHD group showed a major improvement in memory performance when exposed to white noise, but showed no overall significant cognitive benefit from stimulant medication. In the spatial spanboard and word recall tasks, white noise eliminated the performance gap between children with ADHD and the control group. Surprisingly, combining medication with white noise actually worsened performance on the word recall task compared to noise alone, suggesting an over-arousal effect.
Methodology
Researchers compared the cognitive effects of auditory white noise and stimulant medication in twenty children diagnosed with ADHD alongside 20 typically developing children. Across two different testing occasions, participants completed three cognitive tasks in both silent and 80 dB white noise conditions. Children with ADHD were tested once while taking medication and once after a 24 h washout period.
Limitations
This pilot study relied on a very small sample of only twenty children per group, which limits how easily the results can be generalized. The study was not double-blinded, and because white noise is audible, participants knew when they were receiving the treatment. Furthermore, the 24 h washout period for methylphenidate may not have been long enough to eliminate all carryover effects, and the study did not measure long-term academic outcomes or real-world classroom performance.
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