In a Noisy Environment, Use This Trick to Help You Hear More Clearly

Research has found that if you “move your fingers” in a noisy environment like a restaurant, you may hear more clearly. The study led by Noémie te Rietmolen, a psycholinguist at Aix-Marseille University in France, shows that tapping with your fingers at a steady rhythm can help you “adapt” in noise and hear more clearly.

In a series of experiments designed to explore the role of movement in understanding language, researchers found that the motor system is not only an executor of movements but also actively promotes the integration and reuse of temporal information. Among the three experiments conducted, the second experiment yielded significant findings.

Participants, all native French speakers, were asked to listen to a recording of someone reading 40 sentences from a designated list. Due to background noise, they found it difficult to comprehend.

Before listening to the recording, participants were instructed by researchers to prepare in one of four ways: (1) tap their fingers rhythmically at their own pace, (2) tap their fingers according to the beats provided by the researchers, (3) listen to the beats without tapping their fingers, or (4) wait quietly.

Researchers then evaluated the participants’ ability to extract information from the recording based on accuracy and speed.

The results showed that individuals who tapped their fingers before listening to the recording, either at their own rhythm or following the researchers’ rhythm, performed better in identifying the words they heard in the sentences, as long as the rhythm was correct.

According to the report, understanding of speech was best when finger tapping occurred at a frequency ranging from 1.5 to 2 hertz, meaning tapping fingers 1.5 to 2 times per second.

The report concludes that these research findings confirm the role of the human motor system in processing the temporal dynamics of natural speech. This study has significant implications for improving speech understanding in adverse listening conditions and may provide insights for language learning and rehabilitation strategies.

Based on these research findings, next time you find it hard to hear your date’s conversation in a noisy restaurant, you may want to try tapping your fingers to help yourself hear better.

If you often have difficulty hearing others and have to ask them to repeat themselves, it could indicate hearing loss, and you should see a doctor. Sudden hearing loss can be treated but it’s important to seek medical attention early.

Experts say other signs of hearing loss include ringing in the ears, relying on lip-reading to understand others, difficulty hearing background noise, and struggling to hear in noisy environments.