School of Chinese Language and Literature, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
School of Linguistic Sciences and Arts, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, 221009, China.
Noise Health. 2024;26(121):70-81. doi: 10.4103/nah.nah_78_23. Epub 2024 Jun 21.
Due to the abnormal structure and function of brain neural networks in special populations, such as children, elderly individuals, and individuals with mental disorders, noise exposure is more likely to have negative psychological and cognitive nonauditory effects on these individuals. There are unique and complex neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. For individuals with mental disorders, there are anomalies such as structural atrophy and decreased functional activation in brain regions involved in emotion and cognitive processing, such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Noise exposure can worsen these abnormalities in relevant brain regions, further damaging neural plasticity and disrupting normal connections and the transmission of information between the PFC and other brain areas by causing neurotransmitter imbalances. In the case of children, in a noisy environment, brain regions such as the left inferior frontal gyrus and PFC, which are involved in growth and development, are more susceptible to structural and functional changes, leading to neurodegenerative alterations. Furthermore, noise exposure can interrupt auditory processing neural pathways or impair inhibitory functions, thus hindering children's ability to map sound to meaning in neural processes. For elderly people, age-related shrinkage of brain regions such as the PFC, as well as deficiencies in hormone, neurotransmitter, and nutrient levels, weakens their ability to cope with noise. Currently, it is feasible to propose and apply coping strategies to improve the nonauditory effects of noise exposure on special populations based on the plasticity of the human brain.
由于儿童、老年人和精神障碍患者等特殊人群的大脑神经网络结构和功能异常，噪声暴露更有可能对这些人群产生负面的心理和认知非听觉影响。这种现象背后存在独特而复杂的神经机制。对于精神障碍患者，大脑中涉及情绪和认知处理的区域（如前额叶皮层）存在结构萎缩和功能激活减少等异常。噪声暴露会使相关脑区的这些异常恶化，通过引起神经递质失衡，进一步破坏前额叶皮层与其他大脑区域之间的神经可塑性和正常连接以及信息传递。对于儿童而言，在嘈杂的环境中，大脑中涉及生长和发育的区域，如左侧额下回和前额叶皮层，更容易发生结构和功能变化，导致神经退行性改变。此外，噪声暴露会干扰听觉处理神经通路或损害抑制功能，从而阻碍儿童将声音映射到神经过程中的意义的能力。对于老年人而言，与年龄相关的大脑区域（如前额叶皮层）的缩小以及激素、神经递质和营养水平的不足，削弱了他们应对噪声的能力。目前，基于大脑的可塑性，提出和应用应对策略来改善噪声暴露对特殊人群的非听觉影响是可行的。
