A team of cognitive neuroscientists and acoustic engineers at Adam Mickiewicz University, in Poland, has found no evidence that wind turbine noise causes mental impairment. In their study, published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communication, the group conducted experiments exposing human volunteers to various noises and measured a range of impacts.
Over the past several years, several groups and individuals around the world, most particularly in the U.S., have conceived of the idea of something called “wind turbine syndrome”—a theory that suggests noise from windmills can cause mental illness, or other health problems such as cancer. To date, such claims have not been backed up by research or any other type of proof. In this new effort, the research team in Poland sought to find out if there is any merit to the theory.
The researchers recruited 45 students at a local university who listened to various noises while wearing devices that measured their brainwaves. The researchers intentionally chose young volunteers because prior research has shown they are more sensitive to noise than older people.
None of the volunteers were told the purpose of the study. They were also kept in the dark regarding the source of the noises they heard. Each was exposed to normal traffic noise, silence and windmill noise. None of the volunteers could identify the source of the windmill noise; most described it as some sort of white noise.
Additionally, none of them reported the noise from the windmills as any more bothersome or stressful than the traffic noise. No evidence of mental health issues was found during testing. The researchers were also unable to detect any measurable difference in brain waves as the volunteers listened to the two types of sounds.
The research team says that listening to windmill noise in the short term does not appear to pose a mental health threat. They acknowledge that their results cannot be generalized, but propose that longer-term exposure to windmill noise is unlikely to cause mental health problems, either.
More information:
Agnieszka Rosciszewska et al, Cognitive neuroscience approach to explore the impact of wind turbine noise on various mental functions, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-04645-x
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No evidence for ‘wind turbine syndrome’ claims: Windmill noise is no more stressful than traffic sounds, study suggests (2025, March 8)
retrieved 8 March 2025
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