White Noise, Auditory Processing, and Language-Based Learning Disabilities in Children

Should we be using white noise to help our babies sleep? The available research indicates this is probably not a good idea.

This morning, I read an article about a neurosurgeon, Dr. Edward Chang, who has caused quite a stir after recommending parents not use white noise machines to help their babies and young children sleep.

The reason for his recommendation is because research using rats has shown that exposure to white noise for 8 hours a day leads to delayed development of the auditory cortex. The researchers found that the negative effects of white noise were specific to the critical window of development in the rats. Older rats exposed to white noise at the same level did not exhibit any negative effects in the auditory cortex. Only the young ones. The researchers also found that the developmental delay in the auditory cortex of the rats did not persist once they were removed from the white noise environment. This may lead parents to believe there is no problem here, little Johnny or little Susie will “catch up.” Given that sleep is such a huge issue for so many parents, this belief or hope is understandable. But, from a neurological, educational, emotional, social, and behavioral perspective, it’s ill-advised, in my opinion.

Parents blasted Dr. Chang. That’s understandable. Exhausted parents will do almost anything to get their babies and children to sleep through the night. White noise is amazing. As someone who struggles with sleep myself, and as a mother whose child also struggles with sleep, our house is very familiar with the benefits of white noise. I completely understand the resistance to giving it up.

However… what the neurosurgeon says makes a ton of sense to me from a clinical perspective. Here’s why…

I used to work in neuropsychology. I spent many years administering and interpreting the results of extensive neuropsychological batteries (8-9 hours of 1:1 testing), mostly to children with learning disabilities, ADHD and Autism diagnoses.

One of the very first things I learned about language-based learning disabilities in children is how important the critical window of development really is. There are parts of the brain that are optimized for securing connections between neurons, building neuronal bundles, and constructing and strengthening those communication pathways in the brain, so that the raw data that comes in through the ears makes it to the primary auditory cortex, and from there, is processed through those connections, and ultimately, makes sense.

When it comes to auditory processing, and the auditory cortex, the critical window of development is between birth and four years of age. This is really important, as this is also the time when so many of our children experience recurrent ear infections that leave them with fluid build-up. They don't always hear correctly because the raw data doesn't make it to the auditory cortex clearly. It's muffled. Imagine trying to understand what someone is saying, while you are using those silicone ear plugs you can buy to keep water out of the ears while swimming. Now imagine trying to make sense of what’s being said, when it’s being said in “foreign” language. Babies and young children are learning a totally new language. They have to be able to hear and process the sounds correctly in order to do so. You cannot learn to repeat correctly what you cannot hear correctly. If the auditory cortex cannot put the pieces together correctly, the child experiences speech delay as a result.

Many children appear to "catch up" later. Often after multiple sets of ear tubes and speech therapy. Their speech improves. They may or may not struggle with learning phonics and early reading skills. Reading single words and short sentences may be challenging, but many children can overcome those challenges with minimal intervention, especially if they are read to on a regular basis, and in an environment where they are secure and calm, so that processing is optimized. When it becomes more problematic is at about the third-grade level, when the demands of reading become more complex. The demands of reading paragraphs and chapter books are much more complex than the demands of reading single words and sentences.

Reading paragraphs and multiple pages of text requires the child to remember what they have read, and predict what might come next, all while holding information in their working memory long enough to tie it all together so it makes sense. That’s reading comprehension, and doing it successfully requires a lot of organization, and it requires neuronal bundles and pathways that are strong and functioning effectively. Anything that interferes with the development of the auditory cortex during the critical window of development can cause a domino-effect in language-based tasks later in life.

Children who miss the critical window of development in the auditory cortex VERY FREQUENTLY struggle with reading comprehension. In children who are bright and motivated to do well, and especially in children who have overcome earlier struggles (or who never exhibited earlier struggles to a significant degree), it is a painful blow to their self-esteem when all of a sudden, they feel like they are no longer smart. In a child whose identity has come to be defined by the fact that they are a “good student,” or a “straight A student,” or an “honor roll student,” what seems like a sudden onset of academic struggles can really rock their world. They may start to display behavioral difficulties in the classroom and at home. They may develop sleep difficulties. They may develop school avoidance. They may “tune out” at school because they don’t understand what’s going on.

The effects of delayed auditory processing development are not confined to reading difficulties. Poor auditory processing also impacts the ability to understand increasingly complex and nuanced spoken language. As classroom instruction becomes more complex, children with auditory processing problems miss out on a lot of contextual clues because their processing speed cannot keep up with the incoming data. Things don’t make sense. So, they tune out. If they are well-behaved, and especially if they are girls, they may be labeled as “day-dreamers.” If the child is a boy, or a girl who is not so internally motivated to be still and behave (that would be me), parents may start getting behavioral reports at this time, leading them to wonder and worry, “What the heck is going on with my child?” The child may be referred to the school psychologist, who will administer a few tests (WAY SHORT of a complete evaluation) and declare the child has an attention problem and should be medicated.

Let’s think about this for a minute. At this point we have a child whose identity was formerly that of “good student,” which, for many children translates to “good child.” “Smart child.” This child has no idea what is happening or why they are suddenly struggling academically. They are frustrated. They are scared. They feel “stupid.” And if academic prowess has been their “claim to fame” in the past, they may be afraid the people who love them most will no longer feel the same about them. This can be the beginning of significant anxiety disorders in children. Perfectionism may enter into the equation at this point. Obsessiveness about things needing to be completed and in an exact way, because doing so reduces anxiety. It can also lead to very serious issues, including eating disorders and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol in adolescence.

Messing with the brain’s ability to effectively grow and strengthen connections in the auditory cortex can have long-lasting and far-reaching consequences.

What to do?

There are alternatives to white noise. By definition, white noise does not encourage brain processing. It is designed to shut down overactive brains, which is why it works so well for those of us whose brains have difficulty with stopping overactive processing. In my opinion and experience, solfeggios are a great option. I personally use them for meditation and for sleep. My favorite frequency for sleep is 432 Hz. Classical music is also great for babies and research dating back to at least the 1990s (when I was in grad school) has shown that exposure to classical music (Mozart and Brahms, especially) in infancy and early childhood translates to academic gains and especially increased mathematical processing and creativity in later childhood.

Finally, a word about vaccines, ear infections, and auditory processing. Recurrent ear infections have become so common that young parents today may believe it is “normal” for their children to experience multiple ear infections each year.

Just because something is common does not mean it’s “normal.”

The incidence of early and recurrent ear infections began to increase significantly in the early 1990s after the Haemophilus Influenza B (HiB) vaccine was added to the childhood vaccination schedule. Since that time, the number of vaccines given to infants has continued to increase, and the incidence of early and recurrent ear infections has increased right along with the number of vaccines on the schedule. Predictably, the incidence of auditory processing disorders, language-based learning disabilities, communication disorders, ADHD/ADD, and anxiety disorders in elementary aged children have also all increased.

Stopping this domino-effect, or preventing it in the first place, requires us as parents to do what is within our control. Two things that we have control over are whether or not we choose to vaccinate our children, and whether or not we choose to use white noise because it works (in the short term) and it’s easy. My advice would be to say “No” to both.