The sound of rain: melody of calm for our brain

The sound of rain has an unmistakable, rhythmic and calm tinkling that resonates in the glass of our windows and in the pavements of the streets. It is the melody of the sky when it gets angry, of nature when it is renewed and it is above all, that evocative frequency that calms our brain with its indescribable effect, the same one that facilitates our rest or awakens our imagination…

Henry Beston, a well-known naturalist and writer, said that few sounds are as elemental on our planet as the roar of waves crawling over the surface of the oceans and the rain descending on our cities. Somehow, everything aquatic, Everything that has to do with water awakens our senses and fascination.

It is clear, however, that not all the population presents the traits of an authentic pluviophile. Not everyone feels comfortable or safe when the sky is paved with clouds, the light turns ashy and everything is blurred in the presence of a storm. However, the data is there. Just take a look at YouTube or Spotify on this topic to discover that, When it’s time to relax, we love to listen to the sound of the rain.

That this is so, that this type of cadence, of auditory rhythm, produces that effect on our brain and our mind is due to a series of very specific factors. Let’s get to know them.

The sound of rain, the sound of calm

The crash of sea waves crashing on rocks, a flowing river, falling rain… Many people experience a pleasant sensation when they hear these types of watery sounds. However, More than pleasure or calm, what a neurologist would say is that what we perceive is a sensation of “non-threat.”

It is very possible that more than one of our readers will feel surprised to learn this information. The natural phenomena associated with water are not exactly free of danger for us, we know it.

The sea, with its force, causes disasters, just like the rain. However, it is about focus exclusively on the sounds that evoke these elements: are rhythmic, follow an interval repetitive and they are located at that decibel threshold where our brain enters a state of calm.

For its part, any auditory stimulus that exceeds 70 decibels and that appears suddenly or shows a certain irregularity, will be interpreted by our brain structures as a threat. This is what Pennsylvania State University concluded in a 2012 study. People are biologically prepared to react to unexpected sounds, to screams and strident auditory stimuli.

All of this explains why the irregular sound of traffic, people raising their voices or the entire range of noises that inhabit the jungle of our cities generate stress and psychological exhaustion in us. Our brain needs environmental harmony and that acoustic balance – uniform in its frequencies – generates calm. Only then does it gratify us with endorphins, only then does it give us that well-being ideal for resting or even entering a peaceful state of introspection.

White noise or acoustic camouflage

Many people listen to the sound of rain to fall asleep. If our insomnia is occasional and associated above all with stress, it is highly recommended to use this type of resources. Dr. Orfeu Buxton, Harvard professor and expert in sleep disorders, explains to us in his work that a good part of his patients benefit from what he calls “acoustic camouflage.”

This term designates all those sounds with uniform frequencies that “turn off” the feeling of threat present in the brains of many people. When we lead a life with many pressures, stress and anxiety, there are certain areas of the brain that are always “alert” and on the defensive.

What we achieve with the sound of rain or with white noise (a sound signal that contains all frequencies and with the same power) is to have a kind of camouflage. It is offering the brain something that generates a feeling of control, a repetitive acoustic pattern to convince it that there are no external threats. That everything is calm.

In a world collapsed to the extreme by unexpected stimuli, our brain needs moments where everything is predictable. Moments where nothing interrupts us, where life is limited to flowing, to being contained in a perfect time of harmony and balance. The sound of the rain does it, nature and its phenomena put us in contact with our roots and essences, they take us to that private corner where we limit ourselves to being and being.

Finally, we cannot leave aside another sensational effect of rain. Beyond its sound is its petrichorthat unmistakable aroma of wet earth, that geosmine that remains suspended in the environment and that captivates us with its fragrance, bringing back memories and transmitting pleasant sensations.

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