Silence is Golden: Quiet Environments Boost Early Brain Development in Children.

Too much noise, particularly loud noise, can hurt a child's cognitive development, notably for language-based skills such as reading. Studies show that when children's environment is quiet enough for them to pay attention to sounds that are important or particularly interesting to them, it is a powerful teaching tool. Silence is difficult to find and to create, but teachers can minimize noise in the classroom to help children concentrate. Nina Kraus, a neurobiologist at Northwestern University, believes turning down the noise in our lives starts with embracing silence.