Effects of Infra- and Ultrasound on the Brain

Summary

Findings in neuroscientific research show that the environment one lives in has measurable effects on brain morphology and functioning. Human exposure to airborne infra- and ultrasound has been constantly increasing during the last decades. For instance, the European Renewable Energy Directive, established in 2009, lead to an increased use of wind turbines, generating infrasound. The EU Directive states that until 2020 a 20% of the EUs' total energy needs is to be generated with renewables, therefore the current infrasound load in the European environment will increase further. Similarly, ultrasound is ubiquitous in the modern public environment, emitted from public address systems, animal repellents, industrial machines, even toothbrushes. The present study aims to investigate potential long-term effects of exposure to infra- and ultrasound on subjective well-being, cognitive and brain functioning, as well as on brain structure. The study will apply a randomized-(placebo) controlled single-blind approach to investigate this subject.

Conditions

• Brain Function
• Ultrasound
• Cognitive Function
• Well-being
• Depression
• Sleep

Interventions

DEVICE

Infrasound (85 dB; 6Hz) source

the infrasound source will emit inaudible 6Hz sound for 8 consecutive hours during participant's night sleep, local sound pressure (at participants head) will be calibrated at 85 dB

DEVICE

Ultrasound (10dB below hearing threshold; 22.4 kHz) source

the ultrasound source will emit inaudible 22.4 kHz sound for 8 consecutive hours during night sleep

DEVICE

Infrasound dummy source

the infrasound dummy source looks exactly like the according verum infrasound source but produces absolutely no sound

DEVICE

Ultrasound dummy source

the ultrasound dummy source looks exactly like the according verum ultrasound source but produces absolutely no sound

Sponsors & Collaborators

• European Union

  collaborator OTHER

• Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Christian Koch, Dr. · Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

40 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-05-31

Primary Completion

2019-12-15

Completion

2019-12-15

Countries

• Germany

Study Locations